


Family Bonds

by otherrealmwriter



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 80,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26802310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otherrealmwriter/pseuds/otherrealmwriter
Summary: During a Thanksgiving at Ivan and Alfred's house, some things the various members of their families had been trying to hide come out. What will happen and how will they pull through stronger as a family? RusAme CanUkr and FrUk main pairings.
Relationships: America/Russia (Hetalia), Belarus/Lithuania (Hetalia), Canada/Ukraine (Hetalia), England/France (Hetalia)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

I don’t own Hetalia okay? This is just a little family fic I had in my mind for awhile and features a few of my favorite pairings. Just love their dynamics with each other. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Alfred walked into his house with a sigh. It had been a long day at work and he had just wanted to get home and relax. As he placed his jacket down on the back of the couch, he flopped down onto the couch with a thud and placed his arm over his eyes. 

“You’re home Fredka!” Ivan smiled, coming in from the kitchen. “I take it your day was tiring.”

“The worst.” Alfred sighed. He moved his arm and looked up into his husband’s eyes. “It is getting a lot better now.” He smiled.

“I am preparing supper as we speak now. I hope it is to your liking sunflower.” Ivan smiled as he stared into Alfred’s eyes.

“If you made it, it should be.” Alfred laughed. 

He had been married to Ivan for a few years now. They had met when they were in college. They had a few classes together and their grades had been close and they often competed for the top spot. It had been a sense of rivalry for years often breaking out in arguments and fights between classes. And in their junior year, upon returning from the summer, Alfred laid his bag on the bed further from the window.

“I believe you placed your bag on my bed.” Ivan said as he came back into the room.

“I didn’t see your name on it.” Alfred growled back staring into Ivan’s eyes.

“I was here first, so I get to choose first.” Ivan smiled pleasantly but Alfred had known him too well from previous years to know when Ivan’s smile and voice was only surface. As they stared each other down, Alfred’s brother Matthew, who was attending the same college came in.

“Hey Al, some of your stuff got mixed in with mine-what the hell is going on here?” Matthew asked.

“Nothing. I am just going to end up spending most of the year in the library.” Alfred said as he took the bag from his brother and glared over at Ivan.

“You’ll need it.” Ivan said as he moved Alfred’s bags to the other bed.

“Get your Commie hands off my stuff.” Alfred said as Ivan dove for him, tackling him on the bed.

“Malenʹkyy brat” A woman with short blonde hair and large breasts said coming into the room. “You left this in the car-what are you two doing?”

“Izvini starshaya sestra.” Ivan said, tone suggesting that he had become embarrassed and slightly ashamed of his behavior when his sister saw it. “Fredka and I found out we were assigned as roommates and had a disagreement about a few things.”

“If that is just a disagreement, then I would hate to see a total fight between you two.” Matthew said. “Al, let me know if you find my favorite hockey jersey, I can’t seem to find it. Dad must have done laundry before we packed.”

“Will do bro.” Alfred said as he sat on what was now his bed for the semester and scowled. 

“So you must be the brother of Vanya’s roommate. I can tell they are going to have an interesting time already.” Ivan’s sister laughed. 

“Yeah, I’m Matthew Williams.” He held out his hand to shake hers and led her from the dorm room. “And yeah, Al’s always been like that. Very competitive.”

“Vanya is the same way.” She smiled shaking his hand. “I am Katyusha Braginsky, Ivan’s older sister. I just wanted to help him finish getting his luggage to his room.” She said as she walked beside him. 

“Our Dad must have mixed up some of our laundry before we packed, that’s why I am over here. That and the bookstore isn’t open yet, I want to get my textbooks as soon as I can. If you get there early enough you can get used ones. They’re cheaper and sometimes have notes from the previous owners.”

“That’s interesting Matvey.” Katyusha smiled. “What are you studying? Vanya is in his third year studying for engineering, specializing in aerospace.”

“Same as Al is huh?” Matt laughed. “He had mentioned Ivan in a few of his classes in previous years but had some guy named Kiku Honda as his roommate last year. I’m studying for my BA in English myself.” He recalled how Ivan suddenly seemed embarrassed when she came in. “Do you mind if I have your number if I need to call you to help me keep those two from knocking each other’s faces in? You seem to have a pull over Ivan that I don’t think I could.”

“Sure.” Katyusha said as she wrote down her phone number and email address. “If you need my help taming our brothers or just want to talk, feel free to call. It gets boring at home when Vanya is off at school.”

“Are you going to college?” Matthew asked.

“I went a little bit but never quite finished. I’m working right now to keep me, Vanya and our youngest sister up. It’s just the three of us. I’m the oldest and Vanya has a good head on his shoulders and the most potential of us all.” Matthew looked at her concerned. “I’m being depressing and I just met you.” She blushed and looked away. 

“Nah. That’s perfectly fine. ” Matthew said. “Drive safe” as he waved and headed to his dorm.

“You stay safe yourself Matvey. College can lead many a young man into temptation.” Katyusha said as she headed out and Matthew looked at her with a dreamy smile. 

As the semester carried on, tensions between Ivan and Alfred came to a stalemate and went from threatening to beat the other one senseless to just being petty like clicking pens or chewing too loudly till the other decided that the hallway would be a better place to study or sleep until it came to the middle of October and the midterm season. Ivan was studying for a humanities course requirement that Alfred had happened to have taken the previous semester. It was a class that no one really liked, and found pretty boring but the professor was one everyone knew as pretty jaded, old and didn’t pay attention to what was given to them. “Hey, Ivan.....” Alfred said as he noticed Ivan trying to stay awake reading the assignment. 

“What?” He asked angered.

“Here’s the midterm from last semester. Professor Lindsay never changes it. I got through it this way.” Alfred said placing the multiple choice test on Ivan’s textbook. 

“It’s dishonest to use this....” Ivan said. “I won’t be so willing to sell myself out....”

“Some would say it’s dishonest of the professor to not care about their subject and just play videos all day......” Alfred said. “I mean he knows he has tenure and can’t be fired so why bother?” Ivan looked at Alfred skeptically. “I overheard him once.” 

“Yes the teacher is guilty of that....” Ivan conceded. “But it doesn’t seem right....”

“Look, I know you’re having a hard time with your atomic physics class too, wouldn’t that brain be better used on that rather than a class that is for a degree requirement that has NOTHING to do with your major.” Alfred said sitting on the bed.

Ivan paused looking at the old test. “Why did you save it?” Alfred looked at him curiously. “I mean this test is from last semester and even if we assume that the professor never changes his tests, most people just throw it out when they get the results.”

“I thought Mattie would get the same loser as he’s working on an English degree and that’s more of his department, but so far, nope.” Alfred said. “I don’t like seeing you suffer unless I caused it.”

Ivan picked up the old test. “In principle I reject your offer....but you do have some valid points.”

“It’s a study guide if that helps your concise big guy.” Alfred said. 

It had turned out Alfred was right about the professor not changing any aspects of the test and he passed with flying colors. That day, in thanks to Alfred he had gone to McDonalds and gotten what he had seen him eat from the massive amounts of Big Mac, fries and milkshakes thrown around the trash can they shared that Ivan had finished putting in the trash can as he would call it. “You were right.” Ivan said giving Alfred the fast food. “I wish to thank you.”

“It’s what I do.” Alfred said. “It’s the same for the final. I got that too if you want.”

“Maybe.” Ivan said, still wanting to look like he had some moral integrity. 

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Alfred said. As time passed, they slowly began to stop annoying each other intentionally and arguing and eventually grew a friendship. They began to earnestly help each other when they were trying to study. If their schedules did match up they’d have lunch together. Once that semester had ended, at a Christmas/finals over party, one too many drinks of spiked egg nog and mistletoe later, they realized just how they felt about each other. From that sloppy holiday kiss on, the two were inseparable. Upon graduation they had gotten engaged, much to the amusement of Matthew and overjoy of Katyusha. 

“My malenʹkyy brat has found him the person of his dreams.” Katysuha said as she hugged Alfred tight to her when Ivan had brought him over to his sister’s birthday party and told her. “Be sure to treat him well. I remember you two fighting so much when you first met.”

“I wouldn’t do Vanya any other way” Alfred reassured her. “I thought you had a younger sister too.....” He said looking around for Natalya, the younger sister Ivan spoke of with a slight tremble.

“I do Fredka.” Ivan said. “I just don’t see her.”

“I think she said something about having to work today. She normally doesn’t work when you come over Vanya....” Katyusha sighed. Ivan sighed and looked away. Both of them could tell why this was the case, but didn’t want to tell Alfred. Natalya was jealously protective of Ivan and highly obsessed with him and would not stand for anyone but her and to a lesser extent Katyusha getting too close to Ivan. Knowing this, they worried about how she would interact with Alfred, knowing that he was going to marry her brother. 

“That’s odd of her...” Ivan said. 

“Oh well, you two can have the house to yourself tonight.” Katyusha teased with a slight wink. “You lyubyty ptakhiv” 

“Huh?” Alfred asked.

“Lovebirds.” Ivan translated for him. “Honestly I’m surprised you don’t know more Russian than you do Fredka....” Ivan rolled his eyes.

“That was Ukrainian.” Katyusha sighed. “It’s a lot like Russian but a little different.”

“Like Spanish and Italian.” Alfred said.

“I guess. I’m only vaguely familiar with both.” Katyusha said. “But alas, I will be heading out tonight. Not to be rude, but I suddenly got an invitation with a gentleman caller. So we cannot celebrate all through the day.”

“Who are you seeing Katy?” Alfred asked while Ivan looked at his sister with concern.

“Just someone I had been talking to for awhile who wanted to take me somewhere nice. Some fancy French restaurant from what he said.” Ivan scowled at his sister. “Relax Vanya, if he could have gotten another day I would have said for him to but he could not. He had been working on it for months to make sure it was on my birthday.”

“I don’t trust him.” Ivan said.

“Well Vanya, we can celebrate both of your sisters’ birthdays tomorrow. Isn’t Natalya’s tomorrow?”

“Well yes but-”Ivan began when Katyusha cut him off.

“We can celebrate both tomorrow, I don’t mind.” Katyusha said quickly. Then she headed off to her bedroom to get ready for her date.

“I don’t trust whoever asked her out.” Ivan said.

“Well, let’s meet the guy.” Alfred said as Ivan nodded, only to hear a horn honk and Katyusha push them both out of the way. “Maybe later then....” He sighed as Ivan stood near a tree that was close to the front door. “What are you doing Vanya?” Alfred asked as Ivan looked into the car that Katyusha had entered to find the man she was dating. He then walked inside shocked. 

“Did you know this and not tell me Fredka?” Ivan said looking at his fiance not knowing whether to be mad at him for withholding information like that or not.

“Tell you what?” Alfred asked.

“Apparently your brother is dating my sister. I know what Matvey looks like very well. I mean he is the twin of my beloved.” Ivan said.

“Dude, I didn’t know that either. Matt never told me about his love life.” Alfred said with a slight laugh.

“What is so funny?” Ivan asked annoyed. “Your sister is dating my brother and neither one of them told us a thing about it.”

“Well I find that funny.” Alfred said. “Although why they wouldn’t say a thing is still beyond me.” He paused. “Although I don’t know why they wouldn’t tell us. Let’s let them think we don’t know and they’ll tell us when they’re ready.”

A few months after this revelation was Alfred and Ivan’s wedding. It was a small ceremony for only their family and friends. However during the reception, when Matthew, Alfred’s best man was to give the traditional speech he was nowhere to be found. Ivan had noticed that Katyusha was missing as well. A quick search of the reception hall had found them wrapped in each other’s arms. “Well now...”Alfred laughed as Ivan sighed.

“So....ummmm....”Matthew blushed.

“I guess you’ve found out about us....” Katyusha laughed.

“Actually we’ve known since your birthday bol'shaya sestra....” Ivan sighed. “We just were letting you decide for yourself when you were ready to tell us. I guess as long as you treat her well, I cannot say anything to you. Yet. Take care of her.”

Back in the present day, Alfred greedily ate the stroganoff that Ivan had made for dinner that night. It was the beginning of November, and fall was setting in and the holidays were fast approaching. “You hear from your brother lately dorogoy?” Ivan asked looking over at Alfred.

“Mmmmmph.... I think I’ll make some of the leftovers for lunch tomorrow....” Alfred said.

“I’m glad to see you love my cooking so. You’re working from the house tomorrow, da?” Ivan asked.

“Yeah.” Alfred said. He had a job at an engineering firm in the city but was only required to come into the office on certain days. Which was good because he and Ivan lived a distance away, making the commute long. 

“So, your brother?” Ivan asked. He was worried because he hadn’t heard much from his sister, who had happened to have married Matthew only a few weeks after they had come back from their honeymoon. 

“I tried calling but got his voice mail.” Alfred sighed. “Which sucks because I want to know how big a turkey to get and just how much of everything we’ll need. I did get word from Papa and Dad though.”

“Francis and Arthur?” Ivan asked as Alfred nodded. Ivan had no hard feelings towards Alfred‘s parents on either way. He just did not care for them bickering in the house. They mainly came over on holidays, the one time where one should not do so in Ivan‘s eyes. “Well that’s something. Usually if they are coming, then Matvey and Katyusha will too. I’m just worried. It’s not like either of them to not talk to us in so long.”

“Well what about Natalya?” Alfred asked nervously. While they had been married for a few years, she still was not very friendly towards Alfred but had kept her hostility to a minium when Ivan was present. Often she would avoid as many holidays as possible. 

“For once, she is coming.” Ivan said. “I’m just as surprised as you are dorogoy” 

“Well I’ll try again.” Alfred said as he got up and put his plate in the sink. Pulling out his phone, he called Matthew. “It’s ringing....” He said in a hushed tone to Ivan holding a thumbs up. The voice mail message began when suddenly a voice was heard.

“Al-” Matthew began.

“Mattie!” Alfred smiled. “Been trying to get ahold of you forever. How’s everything?” 

“Going...fine....” Matthew paused. 

“How’s work? That publishing company seemed eager to get you on when you graduated.” 

“Yeah. It’s been....steady....” Matthew said sounding rather depressed. Ivan mouthed to Alfred to ask about Katyusha. 

“Oh and how is Katy? She hasn’t talked to Ivan in awhile and he’s getting worried about her.”

“She’s doing okay. Been getting sick a lot lately. Don’t know why. She has gone to the doctor recently but hasn’t come back yet. I’ll have her call Ivan. Don’t worry, we’re still going good.” Matthew said, Alfred still thinking there’s something wrong he didn’t want to talk about.

Alfred wanted to turn the conversation to something a little more happy. “Well, you guys still coming for Thanksgiving? Dad, Papa and even Natalya are coming? Am I going to have to get the biggest bird at the supermarket and have you two here as well?” He laughed.

“I guess so.” Matthew said.

“Great! See you then bro!” Alfred smiled as he hung up. He then turned to Ivan who looked worried. “Something seems off with him. He won’t tell me. Although he may be worried about Katy. Said she had been sick lately and was still at the doctor....”

“Oh no!” Ivan said as he quickly picked up the phone and tried to call his sister. 

“She may have had a bit of a wait is all.” Alfred said. “You know how it can be with some doctors. Having all their patents in one day, especially if she didn’t make an appointment. Matt said he’d have her call you when she got in. Don’t worry. Worry more about the fact we’re having the whole family over this Thanksgiving....”

“Da....” Ivan said. “Here’s hoping it’s peaceful.”

“With Arthur, Francis and Natalya all under this roof, it won’t be boring....”Alfred said nervously.

“Arthur won’t be cooking though?” Ivan asked.

“You think I’d let him handle MY” He looked over at Ivan who looked slightly annoyed. “Fine, our Thanksgiving?”

“I guess not.” Ivan smiled. “We have the plans made then. Here’s hoping they work out.”

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? I am intending for this to be a very family bonding centric kind of fic so you know what to expect. But with both families at Thanksgiving under one roof? And what is it Matthew is hiding and what is up with Katyusha? You’ll have to read on to find out. So remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now.

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Hetalia okay? I don’t have much else to say here on this one, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

“Come on Frog, Alfred will kill us if we are late for Thanksgiving.” Arthur said as he put the scones he was bringing to his son’s house in the car. No one ever eats these. I bring them to everything. He sighed knowing that this was going to be a tough time of the year. What it was with him and Francis, he couldn’t exactly pinpoint but all the years of their sons being out of the house and developing their own lives and having spouses of their own. I never realized just how much those boys meant to me, even though I had to yell at Alfred so much. He thought as he carried his suitcase into the back of the car with Francis running behind. He wrapped his scarf around his neck tighter, adjusted his beret and shivered. It had clouded over and a slight sleeting rain was beginning to fall. “We had better get going before this gets too bad….”

“Mon cher,” Francis sighed “We are heading into the town Alfred and Ivan live in the day before Thanksgiving. Why are you so worried? You need to relax, you’ll give yourself a heart attack and leave me all alone.”

“Way you drink; I am concerned myself about your health as well.” Arthur sighed as he put Francis’s designer suitcase in the back carelessly.

“Be careful!” Francis said as he glanced quickly to make sure the expensive Louis Vuitton suitcase was not scuffed. “That is vintage 1950s from Paris!”

“So?” Arthur asked

“I swear you go out of your way to be passive aggressive these days!” Francis yelled as he sat down in the passenger seat of the car. “Besides, doctors say wine is good for your heart.”

“About that.” Arthur said, pulling out of the driveway and onto the road. “I read some articles on that matter knowing you would cite that. Doctors suggest moderation or not at all. The resveratrol that is claimed to help blood vessels and lower LDL cholesterol is found by just eating grapes or drinking grape juice. A drink of wine is medically defined as 5 ounces. A man under the age of 65,” Arthur began. He had done plenty of research on the issue to beat back any argument he could throw at him to justify just how much wine he did drink. 

“Which I am, I am only 59 here. I am not that old yet.” Francis sighed Has he found the blonde hair dye? Or has he used it, as there is no way that he cannot be going grey himself the way Arthur stresses himself…… 

“Is 2 drinks. Of 5 ounces of wine. Even if you were to stick to those 5 ounces, you have multiple glasses of wine through the day. On an average day, just what I see it is about twice that. So medically you are not drinking in moderation. So unless you want cirrhosis, you may want to think about cutting back.” Arthur then placed his head in the steering wheel, noticing the traffic. “Why, oh why did we have to wait for today?” Because I couldn’t get off work until today. It was a nightmare getting today off for a drive that is only about an hour and a half on a good day. 

“Why couldn’t my dear little Alfred have lived closer to the city?” Francis said.

“I think he and Ivan made a rather prudent move. I saw some of the things they did to that place and the pictures of it before. It may be an old boarding house but they did wonders to it. You know real estate in the city isn’t cheap. If it makes them happy, then that’s all that matters and we should just DEAL WITH TRAFFIC THAT DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO MOVE FASTER THAN PARKED ON THE INTERSTATE!” 

“Oh ho ho ho…. And here I thought I had to lecture Alfred about his road rage when he was learning to drive.” Arthur put up two fingers that looked like the peace sign but he saw which way his palm was facing. Francis then smacked Arthur’s hand. “Seriously!”

“What? Most people here only know the middle finger.” Arthur looked over at Francis. 

“Yes because I will love that phone call. ‘I’m sorry Alfred, Ivan we will have to miss Thanksgiving this year because your father decided it was a good idea to get into a fight with a total stranger who happened to know the British flip off.’ And then you’d have a very angry Alfred and Ivan at your bedside in the hospital. Speaking of which I hope I have enough wine…. Ivan’s sisters are coming over and from what I saw at the wedding that Natalya can be quite the sourpuss….and that’s putting it nicely….” Looking in his padded bag which he kept wine he was gifting in during travel, “Would 3 bottles of Beaujolais be enough?”

“Regular sized or the larger ones?” Arthur said.

“Larger.” 

“Possibly.” Traffic began moving steadily again. Looking over there seemed to be an accident on the side of the road. “So that was the holdup….”

“Do you feel bad about getting mad?” Francis said.

“Yes.” Arthur sulked. “Hopefully the drive gets better from here.”

Having the day off, Alfred ran around the house, looking for something to clean, organize or just get together. Normally he was a very relaxed person who would often have Ivan reminding him to put his jacket, shoes and socks where they belong and finish putting trash in the trash can but when his family was coming over for something he valued deeply, he lost his mind. The fact that Natalya was coming over did nothing to ease his stress as well. While never one to hit a woman, there were times she made him question his stance. It was only the face he loved Ivan he didn’t do anything to her. But he would also be seeing Matthew and Katyusha over the holiday as well. He hadn’t gotten much out of him or her since they accepted his invitation for Thanksgiving. Katyusha had told Ivan that after she came back from the doctor everything was okay but wouldn’t go into much more detail; not easing anyone’s concerns as she had always been one to downplay when she needed help. 

“Why don’t you let me take over from here Fredka?” Ivan said walking behind Alfred and taking the feather duster from him. “I’m sure your Dad and Papa will think this place is fine.”

“It’s not them I’m worried about.” Alfred sighed.

“Natalya?” Ivan asked.

“Well…. kind of…last thing I want is a fight to break out.” Alfred admitted. “But I’m worried most about Mattie and Katy. I mean Matt’s my brother and Katy is my double sister in law. My husband’s sister and my brother’s wife.” Alfred laughed at this joke. “I haven’t heard much from them and I’m worried if I was to check his typewriter or something I’d see either ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ or ‘Feeling fine’ and he’d be standing behind me with an axe……”

“Your imagination runs wild with worry sometimes.” Ivan laughed. “I’m more worried I may offend your Dad by not eating his scones. Last time I ate one, I spent most of the Fourth of July over the toilet….” Ivan then sat Alfred down on the couch and handed him a controller to the PlayStation. “I know you and Kiku have been playing that new horror game. Maybe that will calm you down.”

He placed the controller down. “Nah….” He began to get up but Ivan pushed him down again. “Stay put. I know you’re worried but it will do no good if you give yourself a heart attack before tomorrow. You’ve already banished me from the kitchen after breakfast that day.”

“But I- “Alfred began.

“Will not do anything else today. You have plenty of games, pick something.” Ivan said with a pleasant smile that Alfred knew that while it looked innocent and sweet, meant he was serious and he should not push the issue anymore. Alfred looked at the game collection and decided that Ivan did have a point pulled out Minecraft and put it in. Ivan looked over at him curiously.

“What?”

“That game?” Ivan asked.

“Well the music is soothing and I do like building in it.” Alfred suggested.

“If that helps you…” Ivan shrugged as a knock was heard at the door. “I’ll get it.” Heading over to the door, he opened it to find Natalya standing in the doorway with a man with long brown hair standing next to her. 

“Big brother. I’m here.” Natalya said as she walked inside and hung her coat up.

“I see that. You didn’t tell us you were bringing a guest.” Ivan said.

“Well Toris didn’t have much else planned and I didn’t want to leave him all alone at the college. So I brought him with me.” Alfred growled. Sure he had plenty for everyone so another person wouldn’t be an issue and cut into everyone’s food. They could all eat as much as they wanted. It was the idea that Natalya would bring someone without consulting Ivan, let alone him was something that really got him mad. Don’t say a thing…. don’t say a thing…. you’ve got plenty of food. Natalya said she got a hotel room anyway so she won’t be staying too late…. Alfred thought as he quickly turned his pickaxe in Minecraft to the ground below him and mined straight down. Natalya then turned to Alfred “And why are you making my beloved brother do the cleaning like a common housewife. He is much better than that. I also believe his job pays more than yours.” Alfred stared at the game more and more, grinding his teeth to ignore her. “You’re sitting there playing a children’s game while he’s cleaning.”

“Natalya please…I don’t think your brother has an issue with this.” Toris smiled nervously.

“Yes Natalya.” Ivan began. “Fredka was just taking a break I had told him to do so before you had arrived. We weren’t expecting anyone for a few more hours.” He headed to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of vodka. And so it begins before the holiday… Alfred moved to a chair beside the couch and kept intense focus on his game. 

“Well we had left early to beat the weather you see Mr. Braginsky- “Toris began.   
“Braginsky-Jones.” Ivan corrected, knowing how furious Alfred would be if he did not bring that up to his sister when he did everyone else who made that honest mistake.   
“Sorry, Mr. Braginsky-Jones, and I guess we didn’t take into account how fast it would get here….” Toris blushed as he sat beside Natalya on the couch. “Check in at the hotel isn’t for a few more hours so Natalya suggested we come here and speak with her brother first. She didn’t mention you were married.”

Of course she wouldn’t…. Alfred thought as he looked at the television, keeping his eyes from them. He sensed if he even had just looked at her, she’d tear into him again. Ivan sat down in his favorite chair and looked over to his younger sister. She was in her final year of college before she went on to get her MBA. If nothing else, Ivan knew her tenacity would do her well in the cutthroat world of business. “So, how is this semester going Natalya?” She was 5 years younger than Ivan and Alfred.

“It is going pretty well.” Natalya said. “Made the Dean’s list and already have an internship lined up with one of my professor’s former companies.”

“Making connections already. That’s good.” Ivan nodded, drinking his vodka to help calm his nervous. His fathers in law were due to come in soon and he had hoped they would keep their bickering to a minimum when they arrived. “How did you meet-“

“Toris. Toris Laurinaitis.” He said taking Ivan’s hand and shaking it. “And the pleasure is all mine. I am studying nuclear medicine myself and ran into Natalya in the student union and she asked me to dinner that night. Having always admired her from afar I agreed. You see my family is still in Lithuania and I couldn’t get a ticket back in time so I’d either still be at the dorm at the college if Natalya didn’t invite me along.”

“That’s nice of her.” Ivan said. “Next time little sister, do tell me when you are bringing a guest. If Fredka didn’t already plan for such huge amounts of food, we may not have enough.” 

Well it’s a start in standing up to your sister. You let her run all over you Vanya…. Alfred thought as he placed a block down, turned and fell into lava. “AW SHIT!” He yelled dropping the controller on the floor while Natalya laughed at his in game misfortune as a knock was heard at the door. “I’ll get that.”

“Yes, be good for something.” Natalya said as Alfred ground his teeth more and more. Once well out of Natalya’s surprisingly good hearing, he mumbled under his breath. “You little bitch if you weren’t Ivan’s little sister I’d have knocked that smart mouth of yours in a long time ago. You only invited Toris to get under my skin, don’t act like you’re suddenly over the moon for that guy. He seems terrified of you you demon succubus bitch whore….” He said opening the door to Arthur and Francis.

“Excuse me? What kind of language is that to be using towards your own father?” Arthur tapped.

“Oh boy, both of you are in foul moods. And we haven’t even gotten to cook the fowl….” Francis laughed.

“How long have you been sitting on that dad joke Papa? It’s something I’d expect from Dad there.” Alfred smiled. 

“Oh it has been awhile. It was a long and quiet drive. At least once we got out of the city. Your father there has just a colorful vocabulary as you do on the road. So we’re staying here? It’s quite the quaint little, well not little, place. You said the county stated this was a-?”

“Former hotel back when people were heading from the eastern part of the state to the western. Sat abandoned for a few decades, Ivan spotted it while lost one day and fixed it up. And since our jobs are mostly remote these days, commuting isn’t that big a deal as we have to do it only a few times a week if that.” Alfred smiled. 

“I brought some of my homemade scones son.” Arthur smiled as Francis stuck his tongue out in disgust.

“Well thanks Dad.” Alfred said as he took the plate and placed it in front of Toris and Natalya. Ignoring her, he turned to Ivan. “Well Vanya, Dad made his famous scones again.” More like infamous “I figured that Toris and my dearest sister in law Natalya would love to sample some of my father’s most delicious baked goodies. Now if you will excuse me I must show Papa and Dad to where they will be staying.” Alfred then pushed Francis and Arthur up the stairs to one of the guest bedrooms. Looking over his shoulder, knowing Natalya did not know about how bad Arthur’s scones were, she picked one up, bit it and spit it out. Revenge…. he smiled as he opened the door to the guest room. “And you guys will be staying here. You mentioned wanting to head to the outlet mall for some of their post-Thanksgiving Sales Papa?” 

“Just what is going on down there?” Arthur asked. “That’s not very gentlemanly of you to Ivan’s younger sister.”

“Trust me Dad, if you had put up with what she had been doing all day, you’d agree with me.” Alfred said as he shut the door behind them. “I also wanted to ask you two, have you heard much from Matthew?”

“Last week he said he’d be up here for Thanksgiving too. But beyond that he seemed a little too friendly. Never would go into too much of what he was doing at work. Also wouldn’t talk much about Katyusha either. I remember those two being over the moon with each other at yours and eventually their wedding. You think their marriage could be in trouble?” Arthur asked worried.

“Well if there was something that was troubling Katy that she didn’t want Matthew to know, she would have told Vanya.” Alfred said. “And I haven’t caught any clues from him that that would be the case. If he ever felt that Matthew was treating her badly I would know. Because I would have had to stop him from killing him.”   
“That is true.” Arthur said looking at the floor pensively. 

“Do not fret mon ami.” Francis said as he lay down on the bed. “Now be a good boy and host and get our suitcases from the car please Alfred while I spend some quality time with your dad. And take more care with my suitcase than your Dad does. It’s vintage.”

“I think I will help him too.” Arthur said breaking Francis’s grip Poor boy seems to have it hard enough with Ivan’s younger sister if you are cussing her under your breath like that.” Once they headed out the door, Arthur whispered, “You’re not going to be careful with his suitcase are you?”

“Do you want me to?” Alfred laughed.

“A few scuffs and drops in a puddle done behind my back, well I can’t say anything to you about.” He smirked as they opened the trunk to see a small car pull up. 

“Who is that?” Arthur asked as Alfred looked at the driver to see just who was pulling in. 

“That’s Mattie!” Alfred said running over to his brother’s car and as soon as he turned it off, he opened the door, pulling his brother out. “So glad to see you! Why do you keep ghosting us? You have us all too worried.”

“You’ll tear the poor boy’s arm off!” Arthur said as he headed to Katyusha and pulled out his umbrella. “Here you go Katyusha, you look like you could freeze in this.”

“Thank you Arthur.” She said bowing to him.

“How many times do I have to tell you, call me Dad,” Arthur smiled at the shy woman. “We have been worried about you two so much. You must simply stop being so shy.”

“Well I do have something I want to tell you but I am saving it for the meal tomorrow, with everyone there.” Katyusha said with a slight blush and smile.

“Well I am sure everyone would love to hear it.” Arthur said as Alfred had already dragged Matthew inside, showing him off like a found puppy.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I hope you like the tension building on Natalya and Alfred there. And what is the announcement? You’ll have to read on to see. Anyway, I don’t have much else to say here, so remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Hetalia okay? I am seeing a better response than I was thinking I'd get to this fic, so I am working on updating sooner. Not having much to do at work also helps as well. But enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Matthew looked around as his brother dragged him along. It was true, he hadn't said much to them in the past few months, but he didn't think they would be this worried. Partially, he was hoping they wouldn't have been. The way his career was going, and with some recent discoveries, he felt like a total failure. His brother had a big house, husband with a great career, a great job of his own and could easily host a celebration like this while he could not. He could barely keep things comfortable for him and Katyusha. That was something he did not want either of them to know but he dreaded if Ivan to find out. Ivan was fiercely protective of his sisters and Matthew would never forget the glare he gave him at his wedding to Katyusha. Alfred had explained that it was just his way after their childhood but it still sent shivers down his spine.

Katyusha had explained that when she and her siblings were young, they still lived in Russia and did not come over until she was about 14 years old. Ivan was 9 and Natalya was 4. Their father had recently died and their mother could not support them in the horrible post-Soviet economy of the time. Fortunately, they had an uncle, the brother of their grandfather who had made it over to America just as the second world war had ended and offered to take them in in America. This great uncle helped to take care of them until he had passed when Katyusha was 18. She had just graduated high school and not wanting to see her younger siblings either sent back to Russia, or into foster care themselves as they were only 13 and 8, she got a job that paid modestly, not well but it was enough to get by, and was able to keep them going with what she made and pushed both Ivan and Natalya into getting degrees and good jobs themselves. She may have had to put her dreams aside but she wasn't going to let her younger siblings lose chances they had to do better for themselves. This was also why Ivan was very protective of his sisters. He was the oldest male of the family and saw it as his duty. While Katyusha would not complain about their state of living, Matthew did not want to break his vows.

"Hey, Vanya!" Alfred smiled, ignoring Natalya and Toris. "Mattie is finally here! And he can't avoid us like he's been doing over the phone." Alfred nudged him in the side playfully.

"Little brother!" Katyusha waved as she closed the umbrella and headed over. "I see you've arrived too Natalya, and who is this young man you brought!" She said as she hugged her baby sister close, nearly suffocating her.

"Calm down sister. This is Toris. I invited him over for the holiday." Natalya said simply.

"I've just missed you guys so much." Katyusha said as she placed her sister down and then hugged her brother close. "Matvey and I have been so busy lately." She did not want to tell them the full truth of their situation just yet. She knew Ivan would worry and even possibly get angry at Matthew. "That is why I just could not wait for the holiday."

"I'm so glad to see you big sister." Ivan laughed as Natalya just looked away with a scoff.

Letting Ivan catch up with his sisters, Arthur and Alfred then turned to Matthew who was trying to stay hidden in a corner. It did not seem like him. Sensing that Matthew had something he didn't want many people to know, he sent Alfred away. "Son, can you go get your Papa? He will want to know that Matthew is here."

"Oh crap, I left your guy's suitcases outside!" Alfred ran off, shutting the door.

"Maybe I should go help Al- "Matthew stated when Arthur cut him off.

"Son, we know something is out of the usual with you. Let's cut to the chase because once Al gets the suitcases and your Papa finds out you are here, he's going to come down and you won't get a chance to talk privately." Arthur said, knowing just how to read his sons. "I won't tell Ivan or Alfred if you don't want me to. I sense that they are part of the reason you won't speak up about what is wrong." Matthew sighed. "Francis packed the vintage suitcase, so no matter how strong your brother is, it is very awkward to try and carry that thing up those stairs of his. He won't get wheels and a handle installed because that wasn't what was with it originally. Makes going through the airport hell. I hate paying 5 dollars just to use a cart so he doesn't complain."

"Yeah they gouge you everywhere don't they…." Matthew blushed. "Last time I was on a plane was when we went to Ukraine for our honeymoon, Katy and I. She was right the Black sea is beautiful."

"You're dodging topics. I need to know why you are being so evasive to everyone when they love you two and are worried. If I know I can help steer the conversations to things that make you more comfortable and may ease your brother's worries." Matthew looked away. "Matthew, I can read you like a book."

"Fine Dad." Matthew conceded. "But you cannot tell ANYONE." He whispered urgently. "Especially not Ivan. He'd kill me if he found out what happened."

"Well what did happen?" Arthur said. "No matter what, I will not judge. I am your father and it is my job to help you in life. No matter how old you get. Even if you have a wife and family of your own, you may need my advice and I will give it freely. And I can assure you it would be so much better than what Francis would give."

"Except on Valentine's Day and wedding anniversaries and anything needing romance. That's his territory…." Matthew giggled.

"Yes yes, you cheered up at my expense, now out with it boy!" Arthur demanded.

"Well I lost my job a few months ago." Matthew said.

"What happened?"

"Well it's the usual, downsizing at the publishing company, those who aren't as experienced or there as long get laid off and I was unfortunately picked. Unemployment didn't pay a lot of the bills so Katy decided to get her a job while I looked for one." Matthew began to explain.

"Jolly good for her. She's such a good wife." Arthur said. "I assume you've been keeping the house in order while she was working."

"Yes, but she can't keep it up for long, and the job doesn't pay as well as what I was bringing in before I was fired, even with unemployment added in. She just got a job at the farm supply store." He clarified. "Naturally they don't pay much above minimum wage, despite the fact she knows how to grow most anything anywhere. I've been looking but there's not a lot out there. I mean what do you do with a BA in English anymore?"

"Stiff upper lip. I'm sure there's something you'll find." Arthur said. "None of this is your fault and Katyusha is very matronly. She would not rest if she could not find a way to help pick you up when something like this happens. It's only natural to do so in marriage."

"Yeah but we can't afford to stay at our place much longer either. Maybe enough savings till the new year. Then we'd have to find somewhere else, and the security deposits are nuts and…" Matthew grabbed his head and shook back and forth.

"Relax. I'm sure we'll think of something to help you guys out." Arthur said grabbing Matthew's arm. He paused and heard a door shut with some French cursing. "And your secret is safe with me. I will not tell anyone unless you say it is okay. Will Katyusha tell anyone though? You did say she had an announcement she was waiting for the dinner for."

"Trust me, it's not involving what I just told you and part of the reason I am so stressed out about the job thing. But she wanted to be the one to reveal it to all, so I'm not talking." Matthew said hugging his father.

"No love for your dearest Papa, mon fils?" Francis said coming behind Matthew and hugging him. "Alfred is coming with me to the grocery store."

"What for?" Arthur asked.

"Directions. I get so lost in areas like this." Francis said.

"You get lost going half a mile to the coffee shop back home." Arthur said. "You never use a GPS or a map."

"And why I am driving." Alfred said.

"Great, more road rage." Francis rolled his eyes "You swore at an ambulance once! And people will know when you flip them off."

"No they won't." Alfred said. "Why do you think Ivan and Natalya get so mad when I put the thumbs up to her?"

"Mon Dieu, you know a secondary hand gesture too…." Francis sighed. "Why won't either of you let me drive when you go somewhere with me?"

"You got lost once and got so annoyed at the GPS you threw it out the window. You drive horribly and I don't know how much wine you had at any given time…." Arthur began as Alfred and Matthew laughed.

"I get it." Francis said. "Besides the weather is getting unsightly out there. I do not drive in that merde…" He added trying to regain his composure."

"I just need to get a final tally to make sure I got everything" Alfred ran into the kitchen He figured that if Natalya brought her new boyfriend Toris he should at least get some extra of the usual staples like potatoes, stuffing It's stuffing, not dressing like that neighbor of ours who lived in Kentucky keeps trying to say…Alfred thought. sweets. Writing down everything he'd think he'd need, he headed out of the kitchen and to Ivan. "Papa wants to make dinner tonight so he needs to head to the grocery store and I'm driving him."

"That man could…. what was that saying you told me?" Ivan asked.

"Mess up a two car funeral. Papa is horrible at driving and directions when it isn't sleeting." Alfred kissed Ivan on the cheek. "Be back soon big guy." He waved as he motioned for the scowling Frenchman to follow him. Ivan tossed a few scones their way. "What's this for?"

"Survival biscuits if the weather gets too bad. I mean they are no good as scones." Ivan laughed.

"See, you got a sense of humor after all." Alfred said as he and Francis headed out hearing a loud 'you tit!'

"Poor poor Arthur…." Francis said. "Cannot face the truth about those things…."

"Well it's bound to be crazy there, so we can use these to keep assailants off us. They may be considered weapons in some states." Alfred said as Francis laughed.

The next day, as soon as it struck noon, Alfred entered the kitchen and put the turkey in, occupying himself with the meal preparation so that he would not get into a fight with Natalya. Toris did often sneak away and help Alfred when he needed it, confessing he did indeed find Natalya interesting, he just was a little intimidated by her and that she did not force him into anything. Much to Alfred's dismay. He couldn't see what anyone could see in her. The main course of the Thanksgiving meal was finished without much incident. Natalya did nearly stab Matthew over the last roll with her fork, despite Ivan having gotten up to get more and Francis did have more of the wine than the rest of the family and even offered some to Katyusha multiple times who had refused saying it was bad for her in her condition which had Francis look at her curiously. Once the pie and other desserts, some of which Alfred had reluctantly let Ivan make as he had argued this what their Thanksgiving, not just his and his family was there too. As everyone began on their desserts, Katyusha tapped on her glass to have everyone fall silent.

"I know I had told you Matvey and I have big news that we were waiting until the whole family, his and my side, were together to tell you about." Katyusha began leaving her baklava unattended. Matthew gripped the seat of his chair, nervous about what was going to come next. She's going to tell everyone. Yeah she should, we can't hide it forever but I'm still not ready for this. I don't have a good job to take care of her again yet and I cannot imagine Ivan would be too happy with it.

"Yes big sister, you've been alluding to it for the past day or so. What could be so important you can't just tell us?" Ivan asked.

"Yes, out with it miss…." Arthur said. Katyusha giggled at the 'miss' knowing it was his way to say it like that.

"Well, here goes nothing. Matvey and I are expecting a baby." Katyusha smiled. With this, two thuds were heard as both Ivan and Matthew fell back in their chairs to the floor.

"Big brother!" Natalya said as she headed over to Ivan and helped him up.

"You okay Vanya?" Alfred asked running over to his husband while Francis, Arthur and even Toris, who had grown to like Matthew headed over to make sure he was okay.

"Go tend to your brother who can apparently do the deed with his wife but is shocked when the natural consequences happen." Natalya said.

"That was kind of rude." Ivan said as he started to get back up. "But as rude as she was on the comment, I do have to wonder, why you are so shocked Matthew?"

Matthew gulped. Ivan only pulled out his proper name when the topic was serious. "I was worried on how you would react. I mean you do know what one does to make a baby…."

"Yes I am not an ignorant child." Ivan said, staring into Matthew. "You are indeed married to my sister, meaning that action is to be expected. I would only be extremely angry at you if you two were not married. You kept my sister's virtue. Unless there is another reason that becoming a father would bring such a reaction to you…." He headed over to Matthew and continued to stare him down.

"Well Vanya on that, there was Eduard before I even met Matvey…." Katyusha said growing nervous. She knew when Ivan's overly protective side well. Eduard was a previous relationship that had gotten physical and when Ivan found out, he had hit the IT professional with a metal pipe so bad that he needed carpal tunnel surgery on his hands and couldn't work for a few weeks, which caused him to leave her and one of the few times where Katyusha got mad at Ivan. This was part of the reason she didn't tell him about Matthew before he and Alfred found out. Matthew respected her concern, knowing his brother was dating hers and didn't tell him in case he let it slip, as Alfred did have that unfortunate habit when excited.

Matthew looked at Ivan and gulped. Alfred looked on nervously, knowing he may have to break something up. Arthur knew what was going to have to be confessed and while he did not know what Ivan would do, he knew he would have to be there to mediate or just offer something. "I got laid off back in the middle of September. Our savings are almost depleted and might have to find somewhere else to live by the new year."

"Have you been looking for work?" Ivan asked darkly.

"Of course!" Matthew said. "It's just hard to get a new job in my field when you've been downsized."

"I've taken work at a farm supply store on my own accord Vanya to help his unemployment." Katyusha spoke up. "It's not like I haven't been in similar situations where I needed to work to keep a household going. Remember when you were a teenager Vanya?"

"But you shouldn't have to again, especially in your condition." Ivan said looking at Matthew to his sister.

"I'm surprised you got the time off you guys did." Alfred said trying to change the subject. "I mean tomorrow is the start of the Christmas shopping season and the store you work at is sure to have some of those crazy sales."

"I'm lucky to have a good manager who gave me the time." Katyusha said.

"That's good." Alfred said. He looked around the house and then to Ivan. "A word Vanya." He pulled Ivan into a corner of the living room. "I got an idea to help Matt and Katy."

"What?" Ivan said with an angered glare. "He is supposed to take care of her…. And the baby."

"Yeah but what happened is no fault of his own. Companies pull that shit all the time, we're lucky to have jobs that you have to really fuck up to be fired. Him, not so much. But his degree is pretty broad and I did hear something interesting at the supermarket yesterday."

"Which is?"

"Local school district is hiring. Various positions too. Not starting interviews or anything till the new year, and I was going to bring it up as just a suggestion so he could move closer to us so you could keep a better eye on Katy, but we have a ton of space."

"Just what are you suggesting?" Ivan asked.

"We let Matt and Katy move in here with us till they get back on their feet. He can get a job at the school and keep their savings to get a place closer to here. Katy wouldn't have to work unless she wanted to and they'd have the help they need until they're good on their own. Yes, Matt is to take care of his family, but we're their family too and we take care of each other when we need it."

Ivan paused and nodded. "Sounds fair Fredka. Although if I catch your brother slacking off or not being a good husband…"

"You and I will both have at him." Alfred said as they headed back in the kitchen where Matthew had a glass of wine and drank it down quickly when he saw Ivan.

"Relax bro." Alfred said. "Ivan and I were talking and until you get a good job where you can support yourselves, you and Katy will stay here."

"Seriously?" Katyusha asked with a smile.

"You took up so much to make sure Natalya and I got good grades and had what we needed after veiliky dyadya passed, it's only right we do the same when you need it." Ivan sighed. He knew Alfred had a point and he had to let it be that Matthew fell into this hardship. It wasn't his fault.

"Shchyro dyakuyu, bratyku " Katyusha said hugging Ivan.

"Dobro pozhalovat', starshaya sestra" Ivan said. "And you." He turned to Matthew.

"Yes?" Matthew gulped.

"Thank you brother. He proposed this idea and talked me out of hating your guts. He convinced me that this wasn't your fault."

"Thanks Al…." Matthew said.

"I got to look out for my family after all." Alfred smiled.

Translation guide:

mon fils-French- my son

Mon Dieu-French-My God

Merde-French-shit

veiliky dyadya-Russian-Great Uncle

Shchyro dyakuyu, bratyku- Ukrainian-Thank you very much little brother

Dobro pozhalovat', starshaya sestra- Russian- You're welcome big sister.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. The comment on the stuffing is based on the fact in southern states like Kentucky (where Alfred mentioned the neighbor is from) it gets kind of fun with the term 'dressing' it's used to mean stuffing sometimes they'll break it down to stuffing if it is in the bird, dressing if it is on the side. I just say 'stuffing' and leave it at that. And in Russia, if you give the thumbs up, that is seen as a vulgar sign. So don't do that in Russia unless they know what you mean, otherwise you'll have a pissed off Russian at you. So anyway, remember to read (well you just did) and review. Ciao for now

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Hetalia okay? I am glad this story is getting such a good response so I figured I would update sooner. Things may get busy at work this week, just don’t know yet. But anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Once the shock of what Katyusha had to say had worn off, and Matthew felt a little more comfortable about how he was going to handle his career, even though he was now nervous Ivan would be breathing down his neck, living in the same house, discussion turned more pleasantly. 

“So, mon cher ami,” Francis asked turning to Katyusha “Do you have a due date yet?”

“Yes, how far along?” Arthur asked.

“Well, I don’t have an exact due date yet, but the doctor said sometime in the end of May.” She explained.

“Is it too early to find out the gender?” Arthur asked.

“Still a little, but we should know by Christmas.” Katyusha replied. 

Matthew took Alfred by the shoulder and moved into the corner of the room. “Let Katy have her fame.”

“Well that’s not quite how you should be talking about it, I mean you helped too bro.” Alfred nudged. 

“Thanks so much for what you and Ivan are doing. I mean you don’t have to and I get the feeling that Ivan doesn’t want to.” Matthew sighed.

“Well, more for Katy than you to be honest.” Alfred shrugged. Matthew’s face fell. “But that’s no reason to be downing yourself. This could have happened to anyone. Honestly, Ivan is just very protective of his sisters. They’re some of the last family he’s got and just wants the best for them. You know that. And after what she had to do to help make sure that he and Natalya had a good life, I think he wants to make sure that she gets thanked too. Now go have some of the dessert out there. I know Katy insisted on making her baklava and it was pretty good. Papa hasn’t drunk all the wine yet. It’s a holiday. This weekend, we can help move you in.” Alfred then poured himself a drink. “I have to get to sleep early. Papa insisted I come with him to that outlet mall not too far from here.” 

“That post-thanksgiving sale? Lucky you. I was with him once. There’s a reason I said never again.” Matthew smiled. 

“Well it’s always busy this time of year. I mean there comes Christmas, then 5 days later Ivan’s birthday, then a week after that we’ll have to do a proper Epiphany like back in Russia…..” Alfred sighed, “Especially with Katy here. Thank God Natalya will be busy back on campus…..”

“You really don’t like her?” Matthew sighed as he had a piece of pumpkin pie, headed to the fridge, pulled out some of the syrup and poured it on the pie.

“Dude, I have some cool whip laying out already if you want it.” Alfred said sticking his tongue out. “That seems really gross.”

“It’s not. I put maple syrup on everything like this. Try it.” Matthew said as he stuck a piece on his fork and chased after Alfred.

“No!” Alfred ran from his brother.

“Just try it!”

“No!” 

“Pweeese?” Matthew said as he put on the puppy dog eyes, the ones he knew he could get his brother to do anything with. “For your favorite brother…”

“You’re my only brother!” 

Natalya rolled her eyes at their antics. She looked over to find Toris laughing and nudged him in the side. “Seriously, they are grown men!” She mumbled under her breath. She looked over to Katyusha who seemed to find it funny, Ivan who said nothing but didn’t look like he was annoyed and over to Alfred and Matthew’s fathers who were seeming to bicker over something stupid again. “Will you two take charge of your sons?” she growled. This did not seem to have been noticed by the older men. “I guess I will have to put a stop to this.” She said as Alfred and Matthew had run closer to her, she stuck out her foot. Matthew had jumped over her foot, but not seeing it, Alfred tripped and fell over her foot. “Well now, that’s put an end to that.” She said with a taunting smile. Alfred stuck his tongue out at her and gave her a thumbs up. 

“You know damn well what that means.” Alfred said as he got up and brushed himself off. 

“Well someone had to be a parent, and since your fathers can be as childish as you sometimes, I had to do something.” Natalya said calmly back, sticking up her middle finger. 

Alfred rolled his eyes and looked at his watch. It still was early in the evening but the way Francis was with getting the best designer anything at a price that Arthur would find reasonable, meant that he was planning to head out to the stores when they opened. Which while not as bad as some of the bigger retail stores, which opened at midnight that night, it was a bit too early for Alfred’s liking. He normally did not get up until 9 or 10 on days he worked. A perk of working remotely. He headed over to Francis who was now arguing the same topic with Arthur himself.

“I just don’t see why you can’t just order it all online if you must have these items. You can usually find them much cheaper and can do it at any time. One would call getting up at 4:30 in the morning hardly reasonable.” Arthur sighed.

“Well I am not taking you with me!” Francis said in a haughty huff. 

“Did you just say FOUR THIRTY IN THE MORNING?” Alfred said in shock. 

“Yes mon fils, four thirty tomorrow morning. Quatre heures trente du matin. Any questions? You will be my driver and could use this as a good opportunity to get some of your shopping done as well. Mathieu will not do the same with me after what he called the cologne incident.” Francis said.

“The cologne incident?” Alfred asked.

“Oui. Apparently he had wanted to head to a bench outside of the store and wait for me. Why, I don’t know. This was just last year so he did have dear Katyusha to shop for as well and there was a dress I ended up getting for her that looks lovely and I guess I was good with sizing. But he would know just how one would fit his own wife better.” Francis said as he yelled over to Matthew. He was still rather upset that he would not join his shopping expedition this year. Matthew was the one who would drive, and be quiet and if he wasn’t going to shop would just sit on a bench outside or wait patiently. Alfred, well if some woman got too violent over an item and he got caught in the crossfire, it would be rather unpleasant for all involved. Arthur simply refused to take part, so Francis had to swallow his pride and ask Alfred to help after much begging. 

“I told you Papa, I am not going through that craziness again. Besides, I like sleeping in to at least sunrise!” Matthew said back as he held onto Katyusha who giggled at the comment. 

“Well, back to the story. He headed to one of the benches outside of the store but had to cross through the perfume department. Samples were being sprayed all over, he was bumped into several times and run over by a lady with a stroller. As he got back up, one of the clerks, as Matthew wiped off his glasses, sprayed him in the face with a harsh cologne. It was then he swore never again, and I am left having you be the one to escort your dearest papa to do the gift shopping, no?” Francis smiled.

“I still don’t know how you talked me into it, but you did.” Alfred sighed. “So I have to get to bed at like 8 in the evening like I am 6 years old again……”

“Sorry dorogoy?” Ivan said as he came over to Alfred. Natalya had taken talking to Katyusha and he had wanted to make sure his husband was alright. 

“I needed to see when Papa wanted to get up to do his Christmas shopping.” He gave Francis an evil look. “So I will be going to bed pretty early. Just don’t wake me when you come in for the night.” He kissed Ivan on the cheek. “Sorry we won’t get to work off that turkey.” With this he heard Francis laugh as Arthur smacked him. 

“Alfred at least tried to hide the innuendo, you didn’t need to point it out by laughing in that obnoxious French laugh of yours Frog.” 

“Just where will you be shopping svekor?” Ivan asked, wrapping his arm around his husband as Alfred held onto him close. They were his family too through marriage and he knew how much Alfred cared about them, even if they drove him insane with their bickering. He figured it would be best to let Katyusha and Natalya have some girl time together and keep Natalya away from Alfred. As much as Ivan did not like that his sister and his husband did not get along, it was what it was. 

“I keep telling you Ivan, you can call me Papa or Francis if you don’t want to do that. No need to be so formal with that Russian ‘father-in-law.’” Francis laughed. “But no, you know that designer outlet mall just off the interstate, not too far from this place?”

“Da,” Ivan nodded. 

“There.” Francis nodded. 

“Why can’t you get that fancy stuff online?” Alfred moaned.

“Because I won’t know it’s real.” Francis said firmly. “I’ve been burned before by online retailers.”

“Well why don’t you go to the company’s website directly to buy?” Ivan asked.

“Oh ho ho ho ho…..” Francis laughed. “I do not like waiting for shipping for one. For two, have you seen how Arthur gets when I pay full retail for this stuff? No, this will have to do.”

“Do you mind if I join you and Fredka sve-I mean Francis?” Ivan asked, causing Alfred’s mouth to drop in shock. 

“You sure about that hun?” Alfred asked. 

“Well,” Ivan dropped his voice so Katyusha and Matthew wouldn’t hear. “Francis may want to go to those stores with the designer clothes, which I see no real use for….”

“Well I never.” Francis pouted.

“But there are a few stores for children there too. We can get a lot of shopping for Katyusha and Matvey done while they have those obnoxious sales.”

“That’s the spirit mon fils!” Francis said. “Well till the morning, Au revoir! I need my beauty sleep.” 

Alfred then smiled as he shoved Ivan off. “So why did you really decide to go with me? It wasn’t to buy baby stuff.”

“Well that was a partial truth I told your Papa.” Ivan said as he picked Alfred up and kissed him. “I would be fool not to take advantage of something that’s there when I have an ulterior motive.”

“Which is?” Alfred said as he kissed Ivan’s nose.

“You did so well keeping your manners with Natalya that the worst that happened was she ate one of your father’s scones-and amazingly did not get sick- “

“What? You said she didn’t get sick?” Arthur asked. “HEAR THAT FROG! MY SCONES ARE NOT POISON!”

“I need my beauty sleep! Shut up!” Francis said as he was walking away from the kitchen.

“But you set her up for that, and just flipped her off. I saw you doing your thumbs up trick. I regret teaching you about that sometimes….” Ivan sighed with a slight regretful laugh. “Shows you are at least tolerating her better. So if you suffered through that on a holiday get together when I know how furious you are she brought Toris unannounced, then I will suffer with you.” He kissed Alfred deeply. “And we can still work off that turkey.” He whispered in Alfred’s ear with a wink.

“Well I have to get this mess cleaned up.” Alfred sighed.

“I have that.” Matthew said as he headed into the kitchen, followed by Katyusha.

“I do as well.” Katyusha said as she carried the various dishes from the table and put away the leftovers. “You see Matvey and I heard his Papa talk about the plans for tomorrow and your brave offering to that madness. My coworkers are dreading tomorrow and if you and Fredka are scared, little brother, then I know it is not something you would not do unless you really cared about each other. Francis is lucky to have a son like you and Matvey.”

“You guys sure you got all this?” Alfred asked.

“Go to bed Al.” Matt said. “You have been more than generous to us and it is only fair that we help out around the house.” He said as he pushed both Alfred and Ivan out.

“Well I suggest we follow your brother’s advice.” Ivan whispered flirtatiously and kissed Alfred.

“Well I think we should go now…..” Natalya said as she grabbed Toris and ran out. Ivan waved goodbye and carried his husband up to their bedroom.

Early the next morning, Alfred woke up in Ivan’s arms, still naked from their escapades the night before. He looked over at the alarm clock and saw it was a few minutes before 4 in the morning. A loud lurching noise was heard from the nearby bathroom. Not wanting Ivan to have to wake up before he had agreed to, he put on a pair of pajama pants and headed out. “Hello?” he asked.

“Oh….” Katyusha said as she looked out the door. “Did I wake you Fredka? I am so very sorry….”

“Don’t be.” Alfred said. “Morning sickness comes with the territory. I needed to get up early to make my Papa happy. Just make sure you get the rest you need.” Katyusha said tearfully as she hugged him.

“Thank you so much. I know Vanya could pick a good man to marry.”

Alfred looked around blushing. “No worries.” He then pulled her out of her hug and walked her to the room they were staying in. “Just get some rest.” She curled back into her bed and held onto Matthew as he sighed and seeing that he was needed to get up soon anyway, decided to just grab the clothes he had laid out and took a shower before heading to wake up Ivan. “Vanya…. No backsies on what you said you would do.”

“Fredka? Up already?” Ivan said rubbing his eyes. 

“Yeah big guy. Morning sickness is hitting your sister pretty early but other than that, everything is very quiet.” He kissed Ivan on the cheek. 

“I’ll be down in a few minutes.” Ivan sighed as Alfred headed into the kitchen to find a pot of coffee already brewed and Francis standing beside it sipping it. 

“Give me a cup. Big one.” Alfred sighed.

“Here. I found that travel up in your cabinet. You drink coffee like Arthur drinks tea.” 

“I need some of that too.” Ivan sighed.

“Damn, you know it’s bad when you need coffee….” Alfred teased.

“And you will get us breakfast when this is done frog.” Ivan sighed. “I don’t know why I agreed to this….”

“Now you feel my pain.” Alfred said drinking the coffee. “But normally it’s just Dad calling Papa frog. Why you using it too?” 

“Because this is unnatural. However, like I said last night, if you had to suffer my sister’s foolishness, I will suffer your father’s foolishness with you.” Ivan sighed. 

“Well let’s move along. I must get Arthur that new Burberry scarf as the poor thing has been doing with a fake one since his birthday. And he doesn’t even know…Well, I won’t get fooled again!”

“Or how about you don’t shop for Dad at the last minute at the flea market. Anything designer there is fake.” Alfred said. 

“Is a great place for fresh vegetables and flowers.” Ivan said as he headed to the car and started it to warm it up. He sat in the driver’s seat, Alfred taking shotgun and Francis in the back. They drove along in relative silence except for Francis singing Christmas carols quietly in French. Once they arrived at the outlet mall, Francis got out. 

“I am heading over to the Burberry story first. Anyone care to join me?” 

“Nah. You go ahead. We’ll wait for the crowds to die down and reduce trampling risk.” Alfred sighed as Ivan laughed. “Just meet back here when you’re done.”

“Fine.” Francis said as he walked away.

“Your family is nuts.” Ivan sighed.

“Yeah.” Alfred admitted as he sipped more of his coffee. “But they are mine and yours too. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Never is boring I can tell you that. So what would be good to get Katy for Christmas? I already have that Wayne Gretzky in sexy poses calendar ordered for Matt….” Ivan looked at him weird. “He’s huge into hockey, huge Wayne Gretzky fan and as he is my brother there must be one gag gift.”

“Well I would love to see what his gag gift to you is then. See which one of you is better at making an ass out of each other.” Ivan sighed as he laid the seat back. “Wake me when the sun comes up then we’ll head to that Babies R Us place. I think I will get Matvey and Katyusha a few pieces of furniture to set themselves up for the baby.”

“I got what I can get Katy!” Alfred smiled as he pulled out a napkin from the car’s glove box and wrote down a list. 

“What?” Ivan moaned with his eyes closed. 

“A foot soaking tub and some maternity clothes. We don’t know if it’s a boy or girl just yet so we can’t get too much for clothes unless it’s gender neutral.” 

“Da, you have a point….” Ivan sighed.

“And it’s starting to get brighter in the east. Let’s get this over with. Sooner we’re done, the sooner we can come back and sleep in the car and then when Papa is back force him to take us to IHOP for pancakes.”

“Matvey would be disappointed….” Ivan said as he got out of the car. 

“Well he needs to grow a spine sometimes. If he was more confident like he was when he played hockey growing up, then he’d have no trouble in life.” Alfred said.

“Da, he doesn’t seem to have enough confidence in himself.” He agreed as they headed to do their shopping. 

“I got this myself Vanya.” Alfred motioned to his napkin list. “Some of your gifts are here too.”

“Hurry back.” Ivan smiled kissing Alfred on the lips.

“Surprised we didn’t freeze together.” Alfred laughed. “And I will. No peeking.”

“Awwwww spoiled the fun.” Ivan teased. Looking back at the stores, he sighed, “chetyre tridtsat' utra.”

Translation Guide: Obtained via Google Translate:

mon cher ami-French-my dear friend

mon fils-French-my son

Quatre heures trente du matin-French- four thirty in the morning.

Dorogoy-Russian-Darling

Svekor-Russian-father-in-law

chetyre tridtsat' utra-Russian- Four thirty in the morning

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. This is going to be family fluff so not everything is action and sex. But big issues are Matt’s career and needing confidence, Katyusha’s pregnant, Alfred and Natalya HATE each other and Ivan is critical of everything Matt does. But there’s tons more to come. So remember to read (well you just did) and review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	5. Chapter 5

I don’t own Hetalia okay? I’m glad to see this fic is getting such a good response so I will try to update it more often. It’s a little easier with some of my others than this one, but hey, you like it so I will work on it more often than some of my others. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Matthew woke up early that day and headed into the bathroom, half asleep. It was all known what he had tried to hide from his family. Despite Alfred telling him what happened could have happened to anyone, it still did not completely ease his mind. Well at least our savings won’t be totally decimated. Yet. He thought as he looked over at Katyusha’s sleeping form. He had felt her get out of the bed earlier in the morning and thought he had heard a bout of morning sickness and knowing that, he let her sleep a little more. She was a strong matronly woman, but she also had a soft heart at times and cried easily. The hormones are going to make things worse. He quickly put on a pair of slippers and a t-shirt and headed into the kitchen he had paid extra detail to make sure was clean. He knew that Ivan was looking for any reason to criticize him. Alfred wouldn’t let anything be said on the job loss factor, but the tension was going to be rising now that they were sharing a house. And it wasn’t like he’d have relief during the week while they were at work, as Ivan’s job didn’t make him come in very often.

Heading into the kitchen, he smelled the coffee that Francis had made hours before. Papa, Al and Ivan are going to be out for a while. Last time I went Christmas shopping with Papa he had me out half the day. Pouring himself a cup, and getting the maple syrup out of the fridge, he turned to find Arthur behind him. 

“It’s a holiday.” Arthur smiled.

“Well, yesterday was. We wouldn’t even be here if Katy’s boss wasn’t understanding.” Matthew sighed, stirring the syrup in the old coffee. 

“Letting the fair maiden have a lie in?” He asked. Matthew nodded. “Good, we’re not out of eggs and bread, I think I will make us something for breakfast.”

“You could set a bowl of cereal on fire Dad.” Matthew sighed. “This syrup is maple flavored.” He said shuddering.

“Well you are getting unemployment are you not?” Arthur asked, ignoring his son’s slight on his cooking. “You can use that to buy some groceries and get the syrup you want.”

Matthew stared into the coffee cup, swirling it around. Here he was jobless with a pregnant wife having to live with his brother, which is only because he knew Al wouldn’t have him live out of the car or a shitty apartment while Katyusha had to work a menial job to help out when she wasn’t expecting. He had an impression if it was up to Ivan, then only Katyusha would stay and he’d have to find some way to support himself. Ivan was too close to his family to turn them out when they needed it, but he had an impression that he liked him as much as Alfred liked Natalya. Which was to say, not much. He saw his reflection in the brown, syrupy liquid and sighed. “Did I make the right decision?”

“On what son?” Arthur asked as he placed the bread in the frying pan and cracked the eggs.

“Everything since I graduated high school.” Matthew sighed. “Like did I pick the wrong major, should I have just stayed away from Katy and dumped her when I found out Al and Ivan were dating, just ugggggghhhhh!!!!! I feel like I should have ignored what I was good at and just went with fucking accounting. That’s a stable career! Or become a freaking lumberjack!” He slammed his coffee cup on the table, spilling it over the place. Arthur placed plates of eggs on toast in front of him and sat down. 

“You’re stressed out. Anxious and worried. Everything you think is natural.” Arthur said. 

“Here we go again….” He rolled his eyes. “It’s not like I haven’t heard this before.”

“Well maybe you need to have it sink in.” Arthur looked at his son sternly. “I have raised 3 boys at the same time, I know a few things.” Matthew looked at his father confused. “You have seen how Francis acts sometimes. There were times you were the more mature one than even he was. So to start with the first question, no you did not. You have a life to live and if you want to not come home and be suffering with crippling depression, working in a field you hate just because of the job options does no one any good. Neither for your mind or the company. If you don’t like the job, you won’t carry it out to your full potential. And frankly, while I think you’d be able to handle it as a lumberjack, it is a dangerous job and would worry poor Katyusha too much. And you’ve loved her from the day you met, or at least that was in your vows correct?” Matthew nodded. “You wanted to be there for her, to help her out and would move heaven and earth to make her happy?” 

“Why do you remember so much of my vows?” Matthew asked.

“I remember well when Francis cries into my shoulder incessantly on things like that.” Arthur said. “Honestly didn’t you say you had first asked Katyusha out about October of your third year?”

“Yes.” Matthew nodded.

“Well by that faulty logic of yours on matters of the heart, then you need to get Alfred to leave Ivan. They didn’t start dating until December of that year. Go up to your brother and say ‘my wife’s brother doesn’t like me and since I started dating her before you dated your husband you should break up with him to ease this.’ How well would that go?”

“Likely you’d be visiting Al and Ivan in jail because they would be convicted of my murder. That is if Katy didn’t kill one of them first.” Matthew sighed.

“So, Miss Katyusha has a fiery side in her.” Arthur said. “Be careful around her. Her hormones won’t have her knowing just what to do with herself.”

“Must be the Eastern European in them.” Matthew said.

“I am not here to tell you to do this or do that. But I am here to help you see some things you may not be able to for whatever reason. Cannot say this time of year is not hectic in good times. But you will face things like this in life. From what I could tell, Alfred already is in your corner on the matter and will talk to Ivan if he gets too harsh on you. You may want to tell Katyusha too.”

“She does seem to have a few things she could say.” Matthew nodded. “She had only one semester of community college done by the time her great uncle died. She had given it up to make sure that Ivan and Natalya had a decent shot at things. She was 18 and worked in various jobs to keep them fed and graduated.” 

“She’s 5 years older than Ivan,” Arthur noted and Matthew nodded. “Taking on such a responsibility at such an age. I think that is why she isn’t as torn up visibly as you are. And she may want to use that fact that she was like a mother figure to her siblings to her advantage if Ivan causes too much tension. He won’t say a thing to Natalya and I can tell that if he were forced to name favorite siblings, Katyusha is his favorite.

“Are you suggesting me have my wife manipulate her brother into liking me?” Matthew said shocked.

“Not exactly. Just telling you for perspective reasons. But I am also thinking the fact she did step up like that to them is why he’s acting like he is.” Arthur noticed Matthew’s face fall. “I am sure Alfred will have your back and if he doesn’t let me know. I will and I will talk sense into whoever needs it.”

“You seemed scared of Ivan when Alfred first brought him to meet you.” Matthew laughed.

“Well I have gotten to know the man a little more over the years and when it comes to my boys, I will do anything for you. Swallow the fears and everything.” At this, footsteps were heard as Katyusha headed into the kitchen. 

“Good Morning my darling Matvey.” She said sitting beside him and kissing him on the cheek. “And you too Mr. Kirkland.”

“Please, that is too formal.” Arthur blushed. “I have some breakfast left at the stove if you are hungry.”

“And it isn’t horribly toxic for once.” Matthew said as Katyusha laughed. 

“I think I will have some. Thank you Arthur.” She said as she took the eggs and sat down beside Matthew once again. “Did you prepare some tea?” 

“Yes I did, let me get you a cup.” Arthur got up.

“I take it Vanya and Fredka are still out?” She noted. 

“Yep. They’ll probably be dead tired after dealing with Papa out there.” Katyusha giggled. “What’s so funny.”

“Oh your brother and Vanya both are very strong and full of head strong energy. The idea a Frenchman willing to get up early and go shopping wearing them out is hilarious. I swear they were going to throw each other across the dorm room when they first met.”  
“They had a few classes together before that and acted that way there too. If you were to tell me they’d be married a few years later, I’d laugh at you.” Matthew drank some of his coffee. Arthur placed a cup for Katyusha in front of her and then turned to her.

“Matthew tells me that your presence got Ivan to apologize for his actions in said fight.” Katyusha nodded.

“What most people don’t understand about him is that while he may look scary if he knows and trusts you, he holds you in the highest regard. And will do anything to protect those he loves.” She explained. “But so will I and you are a person I love dearly Matvey.”

Meanwhile, Alfred and Ivan had finished their shopping and were asleep in the car when Francis rapped on the window. “Sacre bleu! It is freezing out here and you locked the door!”

“Sorry.” Ivan said as he unlocked the door and let him in. 

“Are you finally done?” Alfred asked as he sipped his coffee, which had fallen cold while they were away from the car. “If I want my coffee iced, this isn’t it….”

“I’ve seen you drink coffee that had been left in the pot for a week before.” Ivan said.

“That was when I was in college on finals week.” Alfred said. He then turned to his papa and smiled. “I guess now you take us to get something to eat.”

“Yes you frog.” Ivan scowled. “I will never do this again. We got through with what we needed safely.” He adjusted his seat and looked at Francis. “I cannot say the same for you.”

“You would be surprised at some of the unrefined filth who go into some of these sales. Like they don’t know how to act in public.” Francis pouted.

“Spill, what happened.” Alfred said. 

“Fine some fat woman with 3 kids cut in front of me in line. I say something along the lines of a simple, ‘how rude’ and she hits me in the face!” Francis said. “But there is something I learned about that I wish to research more and hear what you two have to say, as you are locals to this.” 

Great, Papa has a brilliant idea…. Dad’s already going to flip out on him for that shiner he got. Alfred sighed and the turned to Francis. “Breakfast. Now. Once we have something to eat, Vanya and I will hear you out.”

“Da.” Ivan said. “I have pulled as you say, all-nighters that left me less tired.” 

“Fine, fine, now where did you want to go?” Francis said.

Alfred motioned Ivan closer so that they could discuss this so that Francis couldn’t hear. “So do you want to run up a tab or just take him a place Mr. Snooty Frog there wouldn’t be caught dead in?”

“Humiliation or cost…..hmmmm…” Ivan thought aloud. “No matter where we go we should bring back something for Matthew and Katyusha…..”

“Not a bad idea. What about McDonalds….” Alfred offered.

“Humiliation of Francis, yes. Cost, not so much.”

“Burger King?” 

“Same thing.”

“IHOP?”

“Well, that one is a little pricier but I don’t think Francis would be so embarrassed to be seen there.” Ivan noted.

“Wait a minute,” Alfred said as he snapped his fingers in realization. “Waffle House. You can load up on sides and extras and the like and it would jack up the bill that way.”

“And he would hate being seen there?” Ivan asked.

“He shuddered when I sang along with that ‘I want you smothered covered like my Waffle House hash browns’ line of that Bloodhound Gang song.” Alfred said.

“You sure it wasn’t the notion of his son talking about something so sexual?” Ivan sighed.

“No. You saw how he saw right through that ‘work off the turkey’ one last night.” Alfred said. 

“True. Fancy pervert.” Ivan growled. “Well I like your idea Fredka. Francis, we have decided.”

“Oui boys?” Francis asked. 

Ivan and Alfred smirked, turning back to him. “Waffle House.”

“Are you sure about that?” Francis said.

“Yes.”

“Da.”

Ivan then locked the doors and drove to the local Waffle House, knowing just what they needed to do to humiliate Francis to repay him for being woken up so early for something so stupid in their eyes. They were seated in a booth, with Ivan holding onto Alfred close as the waitress handed them the menus. “Anything to drink?”

“Coffee” Alfred said.

“Tea for me please.” Ivan nodded

“Orange juice I guess…” Francis said admitting defeat. 

“And we will order something for Mattie and Katy too.” Alfred smiled. “On your dollar.”

“I understand. I might as well do the same for Arthur.” Francis said. “I wonder how he will take the idea I had gotten in line.”

“We’re in public Papa.” Alfred sighed. “The less I know of what you do the better. I still am scarred from when I barged in on you when I was 11. All I wanted was batteries for my Gameboy!” Ivan laughed at this. “Mattie said you had taken the batteries and well….” Alfred shuddered.

“It is not of that nature, no.” Francis said. He dug in his pocket and pulled out a paper with an old house on it with a sign in the yard. “You see this fellow was looking to get out of the bed and breakfast he owned. Not so many customers anymore. I asked him about the breakfast he served and said it was just things he stuck in the microwave. No wonder he is losing customers. You come to a place so far out of the way as this, do not get me wrong boys the mountains are beautiful and the color in fall is what brings a lot of people in but there isn’t much else to do. You bring your lover up here and a romantic weekend in the mountains is perfect up until the breakfast which you would be better off at a place like this.” He shuddered looking at the menu.

“So, what do you want?” The waitress asked looking at Francis. 

“No crepes….I just guess a waffle is fine. But those two will be making up most of your tip.” Francis sighed. Ivan and Alfred gave the waitress their order and then turned back to Francis. “And 3 of your waffle combo thingys here.” She raised her eyebrow. “We have people back home who may not even be awake yet. So we’d surprise them with this…” Francis shuddered at Ivan and Alfred’s look “…. delicious food.” 

“Whatever.” She sighed. “Those will be ready soon enough.” 

“While we are waiting for this stuff you call food.” Francis began, “I figure I would let you in on my plans. You see I am not getting much younger and neither is your dad. He still wants to be the head of the literature department down at the college but I don’t think he’s liking the job anymore. You’d be amazed at how many parents call him about their kid not doing the work.”

“We graduated only like 4 years ago.” Alfred said. “At least where we went, there wasn’t that much an issue, that I knew of. If you wanted a good grade on essay you didn’t do you simply found someone who was willing to do it for you and pay them and pray you didn’t get caught.” Francis and Ivan looked at Alfred suspiciously. “I never did that! I just knew a few people that did. Besides, in English I scraped by with a low B with Matthew’s help. And all he did was proofread. He wouldn’t do anything beyond that.”

“Well I am getting rather bored running the restaurant that I do and want to branch into something else. Something I have more say in than someone who doesn’t know the first thing about fine cuisine in the first place. Because the owner is an idiot, it makes it hard to source the ingredients I need. But with you two living in this area, Matthew and Katyusha looking to get a place and jobs here, this would be a great way to achieve that dream and be close to my children and future grandchildren.”

“Do you know a thing about running a hotel?” Ivan asked as the waitress dropped his and Alfred’s waffles in front of them.

“I can handle the breakfast part. But the rest, well, the fun is in the experiment.” Francis said. “Alfred, what do you think?” He said, catching him with his mouth full.

“Wmmppohisrrhii….” He began before he swallowed his food. “It’s certainly a….” He looked for the word to describe what he thought. Part of the fun of living where he did was that his fathers were a distance away they did not have the ability to barge in on him and Ivan unannounced but could visit as long as they had let him know that they were beforehand. He didn’t mind Matthew and Katyusha living with them but if Francis thought he could get in on that, he would have to put his foot down. There was a difference between hard times beyond your control and just a plain risky move. Ivan sensed what Alfred was trying to do and say and found the words quicker.

“It’s certainly an ambitious idea.” Ivan said.

“I knew you’d think that. I just have to convince Arthur that it is a good move.” Francis sighed as he poured some syrup on his waffle. 

Ivan and Alfred looked at each other. Holidays were one thing, but there was just so much that could happen if Francis didn’t know what he was doing with a failing bed and breakfast, he and Arthur could lose a lot, and at their age, it was hard to rebuild your life over from. They finished their meals and took the take out with them as Ivan drove back to the house. Francis fell asleep in the back and Ivan looked at Alfred, “He doesn’t know what he’s doing with something like that, does he?”

“He thinks he does, and that’s the problem.” Alfred sighed. “Well maybe Dad can talk some sense into him.”

“Or your Papa will talk some sense out of him….” Ivan said. 

“Well, all we do is hope that Dad is stubborner than Papa in this case, because it’s more than just bad food that is why that place is failing.” Alfred said.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Like I said this is a slice of life type fic so if you are looking for smut or violence, you are in the wrong place. I got a few Invader Zim fics that cover violence if that is what you are looking for. If you haven’t noticed, I cross post now on both AO3 and Fanfiction.net, so feel free to check out the other site as the penname is the same. At this point there is more on fanfiction.net than AO3 but if I feel like trying to write some stuff not allowed on FFN, it will be on AO3 and if you want to see crap I wrote back in 2007, most is on FFN. Anyway, shameless self-promotion aside, remember to read, (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	6. Chapter 6

I don’t own Hetalia okay? This story has been getting a better response than I had expected so I am going to work on updating sooner. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Alfred and Ivan pulled into the driveway and sighed. Ivan grabbed the bag that had the take out they had gotten for Matthew and Katyusha and headed into the house, rubbing his eyes. The coffee was wearing off. He could see that Alfred was slowly hunching over to show he was about to fall asleep himself. Heading over to the couch, he laid down and stared blankly at the television that was showing a game show Alfred had recalled watching from the time he was little when he was sick from school. “So it’s only 11 in the morning…..” 

Ivan smiled at his husband’s overly dramatic way of showing his exhaustion and noticed Katyusha and Matthew sitting in the kitchen. “Bol’shaya Sestra, Matt, Fredka and I got you something to eat.”

“Oh, Vanya! You’re home. Thank you so much.” She took the other take out carton and placed it in front of Matthew. “One for you two. See, little brother doesn’t hate you.” 

“Thanks Katy.” Matthew said looking at the bacon, eggs and waffles in the container. “You went to Waffle House to spite Papa, didn’t you?”

“How did you know?” Ivan asked surprised.

“I would have done the same thing.” Matthew laughed. 

“Well you should really thank moi” Francis said. “I would not have thought so if those two didn’t make me.”

“I would have done the same for Vanya and Fredka if we went with you to that insanity instead.” Katyusha said as she poured a few packets of syrup and butter on hers. 

“Yes, I know better than to ask either of you for this next year. Maybe Gilbert or Antonio?” Francis said as he placed the bag for Arthur in front of the man reading a newspaper.

“Dear god man, you do that, who knows what unholy trouble you three would concoct!” Arthur said as he noticed the food in front of him. “What is this?”

“I figured I would bring you back something more edible than your cooking. Barely more edible but still more edible.” Francis sighed. 

“Thank you for your thoughts.” Arthur said as he opened the container as well. 

“I’m taking Fredka and I back to bed.” Ivan said. “I am tired….” As he said this, he heard a snore in the living room. “I think Fredka is already asleep.” He picked up Alfred from the couch, carried him into bed and tucked him in before curling up in bed beside him. I’ll just get the gifts out of the car later. Ivan thought as he held onto Alfred who let out a loud snore. 

Arthur looked at the food in the box and closed it. “I think I will eat this later. I do thank you for your thoughtfulness.” 

“I do hope you remember it when I tell you about a business venture that I need your approval on.” Francis said.

“How are you not as tired as Ivan and Al are Papa?” Matthew asked as he put the unfinished portion of his waffle into the fridge as well, but not before he took a knife and carved a crudely drawn maple leaf with a smile. Not wanting to seem like she was too hungry, even though no one would say a word to her about how much she ate due to her pregnancy, she put hers below Matthew’s and sat back over at the table, curious as to what her father-in-laws were going to get into. Matthew may be tired of their bickering and if Ivan was in a foul enough mood, he’d tell both of them to Zatknis', chert voz'mi! Perestan' ssorit'sya khot' raz v zhizni! or pretty much to “Shut the fuck up! Stop bickering for once in your lives!”, but Katyusha found it funny how they would go from arguing like they would get a divorce once the fight settled to a very loving display after. 

“Oh the hopeful energy I have from this fantastic idea I have.” Francis began.

“Well out with it frog.” Arthur said. 

“Ivan has taken to calling me that recently as well. A foul habit he picked up from you of all people.” Francis said with Arthur smiling slightly.

“Well, he may not be as scary a son in law after all.” Arthur mumbled but then turned back to Francis. “Seriously though, what did you get into?” 

“Other than trying to figure out what to get the the kids,” Francis said as he referred to Alfred and Matthew and their spouses in one go, “I did come across a dream of mine I want to do.”

“I told you no when Gilbert and Antonio asked that one time.” Arthur said. Matthew’s face flushed, knowing too well from the times that his fathers had either forgot to shut the bedroom door or he or Alfred opened it while they were in the throws of passion just what they were alluding it. He looked over to Katyusha who had blushed a deep pink for the same reason.

“Now seriously mon cher, do you think everything I do is about sex?” Francis said.

“Yes.” Matthew mumbled as Katyusha giggled and Francis cast him a look. 

“Well our son’s narrow mind aside,” Matthew looked at Francis annoyed. “It’s obvious if you have a pregnant wife you have done the deed at least one,” He replied as he went on, “I met someone who is running a failing bed and breakfast, most likely from poor management.”

“Are you going where I think you are going?” Arthur said as his eyes widened.

“Oui” Francis said. “I was thinking of buying this bed and breakfast not too far from here and running it myself. I am tired of being the head chef at the restaurant where no one appreciates my talents and want to do something all my own.”

Meanwhile, Ivan had rolled over and tried to get comfortable while the excessive amount of caffeine he had consumed as part of his promise to suffer with Alfred through his papa’s shopping excursion conflicted with his need to sleep. How Fredka can sleep while so full of coffee himself is beyond me. I don’t normally drink it, so that may be the issue. He rolled onto his side and held Alfred close, who was now drooling on his pillow as he let out a snore, and then said, 'no no cheeseburger demon mint bunny’ causing a slight smile out of Ivan. He had mentioned that Alfred snored and talked in his sleep sometimes, but this was always denied completely. It never bothered Ivan more than a fun conversation piece. It never made much sense anyway. Feeling his husband’s heartbeat against his acted to soothe him as he started to drift off to sleep. Alfred always had a soothing effect on him, until he heard a yell come from the kitchen to his and Alfred’s bedroom. “YOU CANNOT BE BLOODY SERIOUS ABOUT THAT IDEA YOU STUPID FROG! YOU KNOW NOTHING BEYOND MANAGING THE KITCHEN!”

Ivan woke up with an angry start and headed to the door ranting in Russian once he heard the loud screaming of the Englishman, “Chto, chert voz'mi, eti dvoye do sikh por? Pochemu ya ne mogu zasnut', poka oni zdes'?” Ivan began as he headed out of the bedroom door ranting in loud Russian as Alfred woke up.

“What the hell?” Alfred said as he rubbed his eyes and put his glasses on. He looked around and saw Ivan had left, and heard his Russian ranting when the door was shut behind him. “Awww fuck someone is in for it now.” He said as he heard Francis yell back.

“WELL MAYBE NOT ALL OF US ARE CONTENT WITH JUST TAKING THE SAFE PATH TO MAKE A LIVING. WHERE IS YOUR SENSE OF ADVENTURE? WE HAD A CHANCE LIKE THIS WHEN THE BOYS WERE LITTLE!” Francis yelled back.

“Awwwww fuck,” Alfred moaned. He normally did not get involved with his fathers’ bickering but this time, as much as he hated to admit it, Arthur had the more valid point. But that did not mean that they could yell that much when they were at their son’s house. He could tell trouble was coming when he heard Ivan speak up. 

“YA dumal, ty byl vnimatel'neye, chem drat'sya v dome syna, kogda lyudi pytalis' usnut'” Ivan said as he stormed down the stairs, still tired and irritated. 

“Dad! Papa! SERIOUSLY CAN YOU TAKE THAT ARGUMENT ELSEWHERE?” Alfred said stumbling out of the bedroom, glasses left on the bedside table.

Arthur had just yelled something about the boys were little and they didn’t have the access to resources and capital at the time when he and Francis looked over to see a tired and exhausted Ivan and Alfred looking at them like they had done them a very offensive wrong. Matthew and Katyusha looked from the doorway to the old arguing couple and then back and forth. Matthew looked to Katyusha and then to his brother. “Maybe we should get dressed and start packing some of our stuff to move over here.....”

“Nyet.” Ivan said. “Fredka and I will help you get settled. Do not worry bol'shaya sestra about that.” 

“Yeah Katy, we’ll help you guys sort that whole thing out.” Alfred said. “But Dad, Papa, do you ever hear of a thing called volume control?” Francis and Arthur looked away embrassed. “You could imagine that something that loud would infuriate someone who was already trying to sleep, and that you knew we were trying to do that.”

“Je suis désolé les garçons” Francis said looking at his feet and then to Arthur.

“I am deeply sorry for losing my temper like I did.” Arthur sighed. 

“I can understand why you would be mad, but did you listen to your husband Arthur?” Ivan said tapping his foot. “He’s only thinking about it. He didn’t make the sale or anything like that. Your concerns about the idea are valid.” And I have to act like a mediator to my fathers-in-law while exhausted.....Ivan thought as he rubbed his temple.

“But you didn’t have to scream like that guys.” Alfred said sternly as he felt around the kitchen to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. “And Papa, maybe do some background research in the industry before you make the offer? Because if you go get a bank loan or something for a business, they are going to ask for a business plan. And while you certainly can show you have restaurant experience, banks can be real dicks on giving out loans, especially business loans.”

“How do you know so much about capital?” Arthur asked. “You work with aerospace engineering?”

“Kiku works in the business industry. Mainly with Japanese and American business relations but he knows his way around these things. He had to do a mock up business start up from start to finish for one of his classes when I was his roomie. And trust me, I heard all about it, even though he didn’t think I heard him.” Alfred explained squinting at the coffee.

“I’ll get your glasses dorogoy” Ivan said heading upstairs.

“If it would not be so much trouble would you give me this Kiku’s contact so I can ask him how to do that?” Francis asked, shame coming up at how he had reacted. “You did have a point and if I can convince a bank, then I might convince Arthur.” 

“Sure. And our tax girl too so you can plan it well.” Alfred said as Ivan handed him his glasses.

“The one you called, ‘Mortica Addams with a foul mouth and a gun?’” Ivan asked quietly.

“Yeah. If he wants to move it here, she’s the best he’ll be able to get and if she scares him off, then Arthur won’t approve and we won’t have to worry about taking care of my parents. See why I wanted my own place after college?” Alfred whispered. “Besides, don’t knock her skills, unusual is good.”

“Sounds fair. And I guess you are right Arthur.” Francis said as he looked at his son. “You can’t start something like that on a whim.”

“I won’t deny the prospect of being closer to the boys isn’t appealing.” Arthur said as Alfred gulped. “But we have to be prudent. I still like my job and the city. You have to think of where you’d be living as well.” 

Thank god you brought that up Dad. Alfred thought as he lay back down on the couch and flipped though the channels. He heard his fathers making back up, and apparently Francis had poured on the romantic charm as he heard Katyusha giggle and Matthew make a noise like he was going to throw up as Ivan and them left the kitchen. Daytime TV.....crapfest from hell.... Alfred thought as he drift off to sleep when he felt a weight sit on his middle. “OOoooooooof!” Alfred said as he awoke.

“Oh, this is why the couch felt lumpy.” Matthew teased. 

“Oh you can shove it.” Alfred moaned. “Where’s Katy and Vanya?” 

“Over there talking.” Matthew said. “So to diffuse the situation when Dad and Papa get arguing, we need an exhausted and pissed off Ivan and you so they’ll be willing to see sense?”

“Looks like.” Alfred smiled. “Now get off, I have to catch up on my stories.” He said as the channel stopped on a talk show where women were claiming certain men were their baby’s fathers.

“You actually watch this crap?” Matthew asked.

“Only when I am too tired to keep channel surfing.” Alfred sighed.

“Know that feeling.” Matthew said as he lay back on his brother.

“You actually watch this crap?” Ivan asked as Matthew stared at the TV.

“Only when Al is too tired to keep channel surfing and I can’t find the remote.” Matthew said.

“Funny.” Ivan said as he noticed the remote under Alfred’s pillow. “There you go.” He smiled at him. “I want to talk to Katyusha about things to do for Fredka for Christmas this year. Forgive me if I am not here with you.”

“Need my help?” Matthew offered.

“Thank you but no.” Ivan said. Matthew raised an eyebrow. “It’s because I want to do something rather romantic and don’t want to talk to your papa about it. She is quite good with things like that.”

Matthew smiled. Katyusha was indeed very good at coming up with romantic surprises, that was true, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Ivan had an ulterior motive as well. Is he going to try and talk Katy into leaving me? Nah. I’d hear a whole lot of Slavic language arguments from that one. And Al would be totally pissed at Ivan for doing that. As if that wouldn’t be the first argument in this house about something like that. Well, I’ll just take him at his word.... Matthew thought as Alfred let out a snore, turning on the couch, causing him to slip off his brother and onto the floor in front of the couch. As the talk show headed into a commercial break, an advertisement appeared on TV. “Channel 8 news is looking for applicants for our new openings in the newsroom. We are looking for anyone who can write, gather information or is just willing to be part of our fast action news team to apply. Head to our website and fill out the application and bring it in Monday-Friday 9am to 5pm for an on the spot interview. Apply today!” With this, Matthew’s eyes widened. An English degree would certainly be appreciated there, or at least he thought that would be the case. I mean it is worth a shot. They would likely want someone to type the script for the teleprompter. I guess I could do that. And with this, he threw a fist down into Alfred’s stomach waking him up. “Hey Al!”

“OOOOOOOOOOF!” Alfred said sitting back up. “Seriously, what the fuck bro? First Papa and Dad arguing waking Ivan up, then waking me up and then this?” 

“Did you know that Channel 8 news was hiring? So much?” Matthew asked.

“No.” Alfred said earnestly. “I don’t watch the news that often. Only time I do is when I have no choice in the matter. It sucks. The only thing I need is the weather report and the sports scores and I can get those online without a million commercials.”

“Well I am thinking of trying there. What do you think?” Matthew said.

Alfred looked at his brother’s hopeful face. They aren’t exactly looking for news anchor hosts, I know that. And it’s not like Matt is horrible at his old job at the publishing company. He just got downsized at all. If I remember he had that offer before he graduated anyway. And I don’t want to blow his confidence at this point. “Sure. What did they ask for?”

“Fill out the application and bring it to the station. They’re giving on the spot interviews.” Matthew smiled.

“That’s a hopeful sign.” Alfred nodded. “They won’t jerk you around like I heard some of my other classmates talking about.” Good to see Mattie so excited. “You want me to drive you as a sign of good faith on Monday?”

“Yeah. I want to get there early.” Matthew said as Alfred gulped. “They open at 9. Reasonable business hours. Not whatever Papa wants to do after Thanksgiving.” 

“Thank the lord.” Alfred lay back down. “Who knows, maybe when we come back Monday, Katy will be married to the handsome new anchor that will have all the girls swooning over him and she’ll have to beat them off with a stick and have the honor of having been able to land such a winner.”

“Now you’re blowing smoke up my ass.” Matthew said. 

“We’re twins bro.” Alfred said. “If I was the dreamboat, then you were too and you were too shy to notice. Same with Katy actually. You two are so alike. Just think what you can do when you get over your insecurities.”

“Stop reading those self help books so much.” Matthew sighed rolling his eyes. “Thanks for the vote of confidence though.”

“You’re my brother. I know what you can do. Even if you don’t.” Alfred said with a wink and sticking his tongue out at him. “Now if you will let me be, go fill out the application while I sleep.”

“Here’s the pillow.” Matthew said as he shoved it in Alfred’s face.

“Hey don’t try to smother me or I’ll take back all the nice things I said about you!” Alfred laughed as Matthew walked away.

Translation Guide: (Obtained using Google Translate)

Chto, chert voz'mi, eti dvoye do sikh por? Pochemu ya ne mogu zasnut', poka oni zdes'?-Russian- What the fuck are those two up to now? Why can't I get any sleep while they are here?

YA dumal, ty byl vnimatel'neye, chem drat'sya v dome syna, kogda lyudi pytalis' usnut'-Russian- I thought you were more considerate than to start a fight at your son's house when people were trying to sleep

Nyet-Russian-No

bol'shaya sestra-Russian-big sister

Je suis désolé les garçons-French-I’m sorry boys

dorogoy-Russian-darling

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Like I said, this is a very slice of life style fic so you know what to expect with it. I don’t have much else to say really, so remember to read, well you just did, and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Hetalia okay? But seeing how you guys seem to really like this one so far, I will update sooner on it. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Ivan headed to his sister to talk to her about everything that was going on. While Alfred had complained his brother wouldn’t tell others what was on his mind like he should, Ivan knew his sister was much the same way. “Big sister, would you mind talking with me about something? I need your help with it.”

“Sure” Katyusha replied as Ivan led her to the patio on the back porch to overlook the land. Because their house was in the middle of nowhere, they had a fair sized spot of land where Ivan liked to keep a garden in and Alfred would take him on walks in the woods until they got bored or lost enough. “How is the soil here? If we are in the area I should like to start a garden here. That is if Matvey and I don’t have a house by spring.” 

“About that...” Ivan began.

“Stop that foolishness right now.” Katyusha said turning for shy older sister to stern matronly figure. “ You heard Fredka, what happened to him could have happened to anyone. I chose to get a job to help on my own accord. He did not make me. He is looking hard where we live but is not having a lot of luck. Hopefully his luck will change here, in fact I have a feeling it will. And if I am going to get the full benefits of living in this house and being able to save money more than if we lived elsewhere, I would appreciate if you would kindly back off Matvey.” Ivan stood aback at his sister. That was an attitude he’d have expected more out of Natalya. Sensing this, she spoke up again. “Look little brother, I get why you’re upset. You know what I had given up to give you and Natalya all you had. You guys never had as much as I wanted you to have but you got into college and are making great progress. I could never have asked for better. When Matvey married me you assumed he could give me the better life you think I deserve. Well he did and I say still is. So back off him. Be supportive or you’ll see your sister like the Baba Yaga in those assassin movies that Fredka likes so much.”

“Those John Wick movies? But they messed it up.” Ivan said as Katyusha rolled her eyes.

“Must I lay it out plainly for you? Just think how Wick felt when those mobsters killed his dog his dearly departed wife left him. I do not take kindly to anyone who crosses those I love.” Katyusha said. “Anyone.” She added looking at Ivan. “So that aside, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Well I was wanting to do something romantic for Fredka on Christmas but didn’t have any ideas.” Ivan asked with a slight blush. “And while his Papa claims to know so much about the subject, I trust your advice on the matter more sis.”

“And he can be a creep sometimes. I try not to say to much to him for Matvey’s sake.” Katyusha said. “Just what are you thinking? I mean you know how family oriented Fredka and you are. I mean he was the one who arranged most everything on the family getting together for this.”

“You are right about that.” Ivan nodded. 

“You usually are too Vanya.” Katyusha said. 

“Well I have been reconsidering that after how Alfred’s fathers acted today.” Ivan sighed.

“You must be tired.” Katyusha smiled at he younger brother. “Think about it in a few days and if you still need my help, let me know.”

“You’re going to be a good mother.” Ivan said as he headed back to the bedroom. 

“I had plenty of practice with you and Natalya as teenagers. If I can handle you two, I can handle anything.” A loud snore was heard from the couch where Matthew was looking at something on his phone. “I think Fredka is already asleep and should not be moved.” Ivan nodded and headed off to sleep himself. Seeing her brother head off to sleep and hopefully have some peace for the rest of the day, she then sat on Matthew’s lap and looked at him. “What seems so interesting my maple leaf?”

“Local news station has some openings. Al will take me in Monday and hopefully we won’t have to live with them too long.” Matthew said. 

“You get a good job there, I want to get a house. A place we can call our own. One where I can actually have a decent sized garden more than a few pots on the porch.” Katyusha smiled. “I’m also going to have to quit my job at the farm supply store now.”

“Yeah for what you’d be making and have to drive.” Matthew said as he looked down. “Don’t worry I had a nice talk with Vanya and he won’t give you a hard time anymore.”

“Thanks Katy.” Matthew said.

“Besides, I would be married to the cutest anchor ever.” She giggled.

“I don’t think that’s the job I’d get but I appreciate the compliment.” He said as he kissed Katyusha deeply. Alfred let out a snore sounding like he was waking up, causing the couple to look over and then laugh.

The next day Francis and Arthur said their goodbyes and headed back to their home in the city, much to Ivan’s relief. “I hope to god they know how to act around Christmas.”

“You know them, I think they get off on fighting.” Alfred said. He then looked to Matthew and Katyusha who were going to pack some of their important things and move some of their other things into storage until they got a place of their own. “Mattie, still have your hockey stick from high school?”

“And college.” Matthew smirked. “I did get a hockey scholarship after all.”

“Yeah that, well if they act up like that at Christmas, you can use that on them. This is your house too and it’s disrespectful to do so on a day like that.” Alfred sighed. Matthew smiled. “That’s the spirit bro, now let’s get you settled. We’ll follow you guys so we don’t get lost.” Letting Matthew take the lead was part of Alfred’s attempts to boost his brother’s self confidence. He had a lot to be proud of that he seemed to have forgotten. He graduated with honors. Made Dean’s List in college all four years while on the hockey team, knowing how hard student athletes had to work. But at the same time, he seemed to constantly be in his brother’s shadow which sometimes made it hard for him to see what he could and could not do. 

As they drove to Matthew’s house, Alfred turned to Ivan and wondered aloud, “You think Mattie sees himself in constant competition with me?”

“I hope he does not.” Ivan said. “You two may look a lot like but you are very different people. Not saying it is bad, but he is his own.”

“You’re not bad mouthing him as much as you were before.” Alfred noted.

“Well, I had a rather...pleasant...” Ivan said as he looked for the right word, “conversation with Katyusha about that.”

“Oh yeah?” Alfred asked.

“Let’s just say that I do not want to see her upset if I give Matthew a hard time....” He shuddered. Alfred laughed and Ivan looked at him with a dark glare, causing Alfred to fall silent. “I guess because she took care of Natalya and I as teenagers, putting her own future on hold I want her to be taken care of when she marries.”

“Katy’s stronger than you give her credit for. That’s why she’s a motherly as she is at times. If she didn’t have that, then I would worry. But right now all of us, Katy, me and you Vanya need to help Matt get his confidence back. He’s great when he has it but he loses it easily and I know what he can do.” Alfred said as they pulled into the driveway of Matthew’s apartment and they headed inside. Alfred grabbed Matthew’s hand and ran into the bedroom where he looked at his brother’s wardrobe. 

“Just what are you doing?” He asked as Alfred began throwing clothes into separate piles. 

“I want to see more of Matt on Ice Matthew than disappointed. You’re better than that bro and you need to show it.” He turned to see his brother standing there confused with a denim jacket, blue jeans and a red t shirt on. “And seriously, I hope you don’t have more of those Canadian Tuxedos man. Double denim is such a a fashion faux pas.”

“Like you would know that.” Matthew said pushing Alfred into his closet with a laugh. “I’ve seen how you dress on the fourth of July.”

“Hey! It’s my birthday then and I will dress how I please!” Alfred pouted. 

“Yeah and your husband was embarrassed by how you look like what happens when Uncle Sam goes to the beach with disregard for firework safety.” Matthew smirked.

“Shut up.” Alfred said as he threw a shoe at him.

“You first.” He teased as their brotherly taunting was heard in the living room where Katyusha was sorting through the books on the shelves that she wanted at the house and the ones she was putting into storage. Looking down at the sofa, she smiled. 

“What is is bol'shaya sistra?” Ivan asked.

“Nothing. It’s just nice to hear Matvey with some spirit again.” She noted as she placed the books in the box and headed to the corner that had her sewing and knitting supplies in it. “Haven’t had much time to do this since I got that job. But I will now. That is if I don’t transfer to the store near your house.”

“Nyet sistra” Ivan said. “Retail stores are notorious for treating their employees poorly. Fredka had one at WalMart when we first got together but before his internship became full time paid employment. They had put him in the sporting goods department and I cannot tell you how many times he came home ranting about what the customers did to him, the complaints, the unreasonable requests, and all he had to smile and take the abuse when he wanted to strangle them. Many deserved it. And his managers were of no help.”

“Really?” Katyusha said. Because she needed jobs that paid a somewhat livable wage when she was taking care of Ivan and Natalya and had limited education herself, she often got jobs in warehouses or on cleaning crews or in a nursing home’s cafeteria. They paid well enough to live on but not much more. She often went without to make sure that Ivan and Natalya had what they needed. 

“Really.” Ivan said. “I had not seen him more frustrated in my life, even when we were rivals that supposedly hated each other. When his internship went full time, Fredka cursed out the manager who had kept giving him bad hours, making him put up with unreasonable customers and so on. That’s why he’s banned from the WalMart near his father’s house.”

“And you are worried that would happen to me?” Katyusha said.

“Da” Ivan nodded. “Only difference is you don’t say when you are hurting. A coworker of mine said his wife lost their baby when she was working in a place like that because they would not work with her on things she needed. I don’t want to see that happen to you and Matvey.”

“Oh Vanya.” Katyusha said with a smile as she hugged her younger brother. “You are so caring and protective. We are forever in your debt.” 

“You are not.” Ivan said. “This is what family does for each other.”

“You take that back Al!” was heard from across the house and Matthew ran after Alfred with his hockey stick. 

“Never.” Alfred said sticking his tongue out at Matthew. 

“And you married that?” Ivan and Katyusha said to each other, commenting on their spouse’s childish behavior before laying down on the couch laughing. 

Sorting out what was to go where and for what purpose with occasional playful taunts and challenges coming from one party to another dragged on into the night. Eventually Katyusha and Matthew had everything they needed sorted as night fell and Matthew called for a few pizzas. “It’s getting late and I guess because we were messing around more than we should, we didn’t finish the task.”

“Guess not....”Alfred laughed. “Want to go home and come back tomorrow?”

“Nah.” Matthew said. “We have to get the big stuff we’re saving into storage and I will need help with that from you two, so why don’t you stay the night? The couch folds out. I mean we don’t have a place as big as your guys but....”

“Don’t feel bad about that.” Ivan said. “If our jobs weren’t set up like they are, we’d have to live closer to the city and we would have a place this size. Honestly that was just luck. Although I could live in a cardboard box as long as Fredka was with me.”

“I do ask that you two do not get carnal on the couch.” Matthew teased. “A romantic overnight usually is not at your brother’s house on his couch.” 

“Shuddup.” Alfred said throwing a pillow at his brother who threw it right back. 

The pizza came and they spent the rest of the night exchanging stories of each other’s spouses’ childhood at their expense. Katyusha shared the story of when Ivan was a child while their Great-Uncle was still alive and raising them. 

“You see Vanya is not good at making friends, hardly was.” Katyusha said as she noticed Ivan blush and bury his face in his scarf. “He was about 9 when we had first come from Russia so naturally, with that he had a rough time in school. No one picked on him because of his size but also they didn’t want to play with him. So our Chudovyy dyadʹko figured he could use a pet. So he gets a hamster that Vanya could call his own. He loved it so much and 3 days later it got out and was never found again and Vanya was so upset. He felt like he was rejected by the hamster. We had tried to explain to him that this happened with hamsters sometime but he was so sad. It was like seeing a big little teddy bear start to cry. ” With this Alfred smiled at Ivan as if he was going to laugh at him. 

“Did you have to bring that up sis?” Ivan said as his face grew red.

“Well how about this Ivan?” Matthew said sipping his soda. “Our Papa had a big fluffy long haired white cat when we were younger. It loved everyone in the family.” He saw Alfred now grow red with the same embarrassment. “Except Al. This cat hated him. He would take dumps in Al’s shoes. And of course Al never ever, ever checked so he’d step in cat poop. Hissed at him any time he went by and when it was his turn to change and clean the cat box, that cat would stand by watch and take a large dump in the clean box. It never did that with me, Dad or Papa.”

“I hated that cat.....” Alfred said, memories of getting up for middle school and finding cat poop in his shoes after he put on his socks flooding back as Ivan started to laugh. “Laugh it up Vanya....”

“You’re so cute when you get pouty.” Ivan said as Alfred sulked. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Alfred said rolling his eyes. “That’s why I didn’t hit you for laughing at me. Anyone else I would have beat to the ground.”

With this Alfred told the story of Matthew using maple syrup instead of hair gel one day when he was late for class and how everything sticked to his head and their Papa took him to an expensive salon to get his hair straightened out and Ivan told of a time when Katyusha tried to make a pizza but forgot to turn the oven on and after a few hours of wondering why it wasn’t baking, she noticed it was not on and then she forgot about it and it burned. “Still tasted better than Arthur’s cooking though sis.” Ivan said, noticing that Katyusha was getting teary eyed at that. 

“Yeah Katy, that seemed like a typical dinner for us growing up when Dad tried to cook. Like I said, that man could set a bowl of cereal on fire.” Alfred said.

“I say that too.” Matt replied.

“Well it’s the truth isn’t it?” Ivan replied.

“Yes.” Matthew and Alfred said at the same time.

“So you both can use the saying.” Ivan said as he looked at his watch. “It’s getting late and if we start bright and early tomorrow, we can have this all sorted out and taken care of.”

“Yeah and I don’t want you looking worn out on that interview Monday Matt.” Alfred said. “You’ll blow them away.”

“Thanks for the confidence bro.” Matthew said as he helped Katyusha up and led her to their bedroom. Once they were out of earshot, Ivan pulled out the sofa and looked at Alfred.

“Matvey has an interview already?” He asked.

“Well channel 8 news has a ton of openings in various departments apparently and they’re having open interviews. I figured it is worth a shot. What’s the worst that can happen? Besides, they’re not likely to hire him on the spot so he’s still going to look at the school job too. I have faith that next Thanksgiving will be at their new house with the new baby and Mattie with a good job.” Alfred said.

“I love your optimism.” Ivan smiled and left the conversation there with a kiss on Alfred’s lips. Ivan knew the job market for people with Matthew’s degree was tough and suspected it might take longer where they lived than here. But money was an issue and if they had a roof over their heads, it would be easier on Katyusha at this time. 

“I don’t have it without a good reason.” Alfred said as he kissed Ivan back. “I will just make sure this time he doesn’t use maple syrup for hair gel.”

“You’re a very caring brother Fredka.” Ivan smiled. 

“Someone’s got to have his back.” Alfred smiled as he held onto Ivan on the lumpy pull out mattress. “And you are so protective of Katy.” Alfred took a breath as he had the idea for awhile but didn’t know how Ivan would respond to the idea. “You’d make a great dad.”

“Chto vy imeyete v vidu?” Ivan asked in so much surprise it came out in Russian.

“What I mean is I was thinking we should adopt one of these days.” Alfred said. “What do you think?”

Ivan paused. Late at night wasn’t the time to have the discussion but he would be lying if he said the thought hadn’t crossed his mind a few times since Katyusha said she was pregnant. “I think we should discuss it more when we aren’t moving our siblings into our house.” He noticed Alfred’s face fall. “But I have thought a little about it and yes, you’d make a good dad yourself too. You can at least keep up with a child.”

“You could too.” Alfred said as he kissed Ivan on the cheek. “We’ll talk about it later.” He sighed as they fell asleep. 

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. This is very slice of life-ish so like I said before I am not having tons of smut or violence. I don’t really have much to say on this one right now so remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Hetalia okay? Between this and A Dream Deferred these are sort of my pet projects of this fandom. I do kind of want to do a spinoff to my AmeBel story The Longing of the Heart but I don't know on that one yet. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Alfred and Ivan tossed and turned trying to get comfortable when Ivan was awoken by a start. Katyusha was having another bout of morning sickness. Looking over at his watch, he noticed it was only 5 in the morning. God so it wasn't that one time, it hits her early Ivan thought as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He got a glass of water from the kitchen and listened carefully. It sounded pretty bad, so he pulled out his phone to quickly see how long it was supposed to last. "So until the 14 week mark. 9 weeks is usually the worst..." He read off, causing Alfred to wake.

"What are you doing up this early Vanya?" Alfred asked as he placed a pillow over his eyes trying to block out the light from the phone.

"I heard Katyusha's morning sickness. Apparently it isn't limited to the morning, but it seems hers is in the wee hours of the morning..." Ivan noted.

"Well she seems to have settled that." Alfred said, not usually so short with someone who was sick or with Ivan's concerns, but not when he's been sleeping on a pull out sofa and phone light was the worst offender for waking him up no matter what. "Put that thing up and come back to sofa bed." Alfred said as he pulled Ivan's phone from his hand, placed it on a side table and then pulled the larger man back to the sofa with him, kissing him behind the ear. "I promise you tonight you'll have something you'll enjoy." Alfred teased.

"Not this morning?" Ivan asked back with a smirk as Alfred then pulled the blankets over themselves, wrapping each other tightly in them

"Give you something to dream about other than Katy's morning sickness and Matt's lack of taste..." He said motioning to the maple leaf blanket and decor. "That stuff will be in storage. I am not hanging it up at our house."

"I agree." Ivan smirked.

The smell of bacon with maple syrup wafted through the house, causing Alfred to stir awake. Breaking out of Ivan's grip he had in his sleep, he walked into the kitchen, back aching from the mattress. "Uggghhhh that hurts like a bitch" He moaned.

"Well old man." Matthew said sticking his tongue out at his brother. "Thought you two had died."

"Never again on that couch." Ivan moaned staring up at the ceiling. "I would rather set out a bunch of blankets like a kid having a sleepover than that thing."

"Well I have breakfast, well now lunch," Matthew said looking at the clock "made so eat hearty. I was thinking we could pack up the stuff Katy and I are moving into your place today as our lease is up at the end of December and we had already paid that rent. Makes things a little easier time wise when it comes to getting this bigger stuff into storage."

"That actually sounds reasonable. Will you get your rent back if you leave early?" Ivan asked though.

"Nope. And since the landlord is a jerk, I made sure to record everything how it was when we moved in and when we finish up to get the security deposit. Trust me, Dad warned me of that when we got this place." Ivan scowled at the fact someone would do such a thing, and that was part of his motivation to own his house outright as much as he could. Matthew saw Ivan's scowl and turned to him. "Hey, when I do get a job, can you and Al advise us on the home market?"

Alfred looked around. "Ummmmm Vanya handled that mostly. I just signed on the line. You see he worked as a construction worker in the summers during college, so that's how he picked so much up on home repair."

"Well that and I was the one who fixed most of the stuff before then. Velikiy dyadya insisted I learn it." Ivan explained as he ate the bacon sandwich looking over the small house. They would have needed to move out anyway even if Matvey didn't lose his job, this is just too small to have a baby in.

"Not too bad an idea Mattie." Alfred added. "Plus you have to be ready for that interview tomorrow. Moving all your shit out your place won't do that." Alfred said thumping his brother on his back.

"Yeah, it wouldn't..."Matthew laughed nervously. He had been acting like he wasn't at all nervous at the prospect of going to interview at the news station, but he was deep down petrified. All logic that anyone told him went out the window in his mind. His fear of letting his duty to Katyusha and their unborn child would always find a way back in. The what ifs flooding back. The idea that they would be stuck forever in his brother's house with Ivan forever being critical of him despite no matter how many times Alfred would tell him it wasn't his fault, ate at him. They very reasons Ivan was critical of him was why he was ashamed before he found out. It's not like he didn't know what kind of life Katyusha had before she married him. He had wanted to provide her with a way to enjoy herself with whatever she wanted to do with her life. She was only 5 years older than him but had to take up duties of someone much older so young. That's what he admired about her, that's what he loved about her. And that was what he wanted to keep her from having to do all over again.

Meanwhile, Francis was back at his and Arthur's house wrapping the gifts he had bought and stashing them under the bed. It was just him and Arthur in the house now and it wasn't like when Matthew and Alfred were children. They grew up so fast. Francis thought as he knew he was going to be a grand-père come the spring. Looking at the photo album of Christmases past, it was always clear that Matthew was a very quiet child and Alfred very loud and confident, too confident at times... he thought as he saw a picture of Arthur chasing after Alfred for riding his bike in the house right after he got it. That Christmas was particularly snowy so he couldn't go out and ride it but determined as he was to test out his new toy when he got it, he rode it in the house, causing him to crash into the sofa in the living room and instead of hitting the piece of furniture, he hit the floor hard, causing a large welt on his head.

"Oi, Francis." Arthur said as he knocked on the entry way of the door. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine mi amor." Francis smiled. "Just looking at the old Christmas photos. I've been quite sentimental lately."

"Because you are getting old." Arthur said annoyed. "I need some help with the lights and decorations. I want to keep it simple,"

"Just how simple?" Francis asked.

"A string of lights on the gutters, something on the bushes and a few wreaths. Something like that." Arthur said. "The boys aren't little anymore so I don't want to keep up the tacky plastic Santas or what have you."

"So you want tasteful elegance huh?" Francis said.

"So no calling Gilbert or Antonio to do it. They still are not allowed at my office because of what they did at one Christmas party. I should know better than to invite some of your friends."

"Oh you can be a real stick in the mud sometimes." Francis said. "But you are going to be a grandpa soon and aren't they supposed to be the ones who spoil the children behind their parent's backs?"

"I'll be sure to warn Matthew and Katyusha about what you will do." Arthur sighed. "Now come along and help me Frog."

"You're not fun." Francis sighed as they headed out to put the Christmas decorations up.

"And don't you forget it." Arthur smiled at him. "But later, there can be...arrangements and allowances made."

"Oh hohohoohon..." Francis laughed.

"If you help me here." Arthur said.

"Always with strings attached. Fine." Francis said.

The next day, Katyusha woke Matthew up with a kiss on the forehead "Dobroho ranku miy klenovyy lyst" She said with a smile.

"Ugggghhhhh." Matthew said as he reached for his glasses that Katyusha slid on his face. "What time is it?"

"Seven thirty Matvey." Katyusha smiled. "Fredka is in the kitchen and is making you your favorite morning breakfast swimming in maple syrup, the good stuff he claims."

"From Canada or Vermont?" Matthew said.

"Vermont I do believe Fredka said when I asked him." Katyusha replied as Matthew rolled his eyes. "I am sure it is an honest mistake as both places are renowned for their syrup."

"Nah, that's just his way." Matthew said as he rolled his eyes.

"I picked you out a very smart looking outfit." Matthew looked up at Katyusha. "Fredka told me all about your plans for the interview today. You did too the other day silly."

"Yeah, it's just..." Matthew started when Katyusha turned onto him.

"You aren't how you say...chickening out...are you?" Katyusha said annoyed. It was rare that she could be stirred to such a state but when it did happen, the person who caused it was in for it. "After I had told Vanya to stop giving you such a hard time. Do you want me to tell him AND your brother you changed your mind?"

"No! No!" Matthew panicked, not having seen this side of his wife used towards him before.

"I understand you are nervous my darling but there is no need to be. No need for shame either. You are not in competition with anyone. The more you think you are the more you hate yourself..." Katyusha paused. She knew that feeling well herself. Her friends she had graduated with had all went on to bigger and better things and she was taking care of her little brother and sister after high school. Part of her wanted to finish that degree, prove she wasn't as some bullies when she was in school said 'double d meets double dumb'. When women pay good money for implants the size... She placed her hand on her breasts, something other women envied and used against her. These grew naturally, they still made fun of me for them... She thought remembering the teasing she endured in high school for them and her accent, how she hid it from her Great Uncle and Ivan who both would have made sure personally in their own ways, often violent ways, that it never happened again and did not want to cause trouble. There were times she hadn't wondered what would have happened if she hadn't took over after her Great Uncle died. Well you did what you had to to make sure that Vanya and Natalya have a good future ahead of them and it is because you did that Vanya and Fredka can do for you and Matvey what they are now. She recalled as Matthew took the outfit she had picked out for him and kissed her on the cheek. "Matvey" She paused.

"You are Double D meets Double Darling." He said turning the old name into something to compliment her. "You are double dedicated, double devoted, double doting, double dear, double everything good I could ask for. I'm the idiot here for trying to chicken out when my wife and my brother, and I guess lesser extent brother in law are all helping me in my time of need." He then headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

"Ya tak tebe lyublyu" Katyusha whispered.

"Je t'aime de tout mon cœur ma femme chérie. N'oublie jamais ça." Matthew said in French, knowing how much Katyusha thought that as the ultimate language of love.

"I'm sorry, I only understood half of that." She whispered with a tear coming from her eyes.

"I said, 'I love you with all my heart my darling wife. Never forget that.' in French." Matthew wiped away her tear. "You have done more for me than I could ever hope for. Now it is my turn to get back in the saddle and do it for you." He placed his hand on her lower abdomen. "And this little fella here too."

"HEY MATTIE CAN YOU HURRY THE HELL UP? THESE PANCAKES ARE GOING TO GET AS GOOD AS THE STUFF YOU GET AT MCDONALDS AND THOSE SUCK!" Alfred yelled toward Matthew's room.

"FINE BY GOD!" Matthew yelled back. "LET ME SHOWER FIRST SO I DON'T SMELL LIKE MOOSE ASS!"

"MAKE IT QUICK!" Alfred said.

Matthew kissed Katyusha quickly on the cheek and headed to take a shower as she headed to the kitchen and looked at the plates Alfred had out. "Looks good. You weren't going to wake Vanya were you?" She asked knowing how much Ivan hated being woken up by yelling.

"Nah, he had to go to his company's office today so he had to leave early." Alfred said as he sipped his coffee. "You know I'm the only person Matt will yell at like that."

"Really?" Katyusha noted.

"Must be a brother thing." Alfred then began to eat his pancakes. "I'm hungry and not waiting on him." At this, Matthew headed into the dining room where Alfred was greedily eating his food. "Mmmphthsteremmpshtsurs..."

"Swallow your food before speaking." Matthew said rolling his eyes. "They're going to think I have to take care of you like some George and Lennie thing..." This caused Alfred to pause confused. Katyusha blushed getting the reference Matthew was making to the John Steinbeck novel Of Mice and Men.

"Huh?" Alfred asked swallowing his food.

"Maybe I'll get you the book this Christmas so you'll get how I just ascribed you." Matthew smirked. See Al, that English Degree has some use after all.

"Well I'm ignoring if you called me some sort of idiot or something. Just hurry up and eat so we can get there early. It's like Dad drilled into us. Early is best, on time is late. And I want my brother to have the best impression ever." Alfred said.

"If you keep up the Lennie act, maybe they'll give the job to me out of pity." Matthew said, savoring the looks that Alfred gave him. They headed out to the car where Alfred had agreed to drive him, absorbing the backhanded comments that his brother gave him. If this helps his confidence right now, take it, take it. You can kick his ass later... Alfred thought as he ground his teeth as they pulled into the station. Matthew then spoke with the manager and Alfred sat in the waiting area, looking at the magazines to keep himself occupied. Grabbing a parenting one he looked at it, seeing the magazine at first for ideas for things to get Matthew and Katyusha but the conversation he had with Ivan the other night was ringing out in his mind. He did think that it might just be time for him and Ivan to think about adoption.

Looking at an ad for some toys where the parents were blowing bubbles for a child around a playhouse and toy grill with another family member was grilling looking at the child with the toy grill happily. It seemed wonderful and he imagined himself grilling and Ivan blowing bubbles and their child was there happy as could be, possibly with their cousin while their grandpas argued in the corner on how hot dogs and sausages were not quite a good food and the other stupid things Alfred knew his dads to fight about. He then looked down at his phone and then called Arthur. He was the one parent he had that was more rational.

"Uggggghhhhh..." Arthur said waking up, breaking free from Francis's grip. The Thanksgiving holiday was still on at the University, so he did not have work, but what his husband had talked him into the night before was something he had not wanted to wake up so early. "Hello Alfred, what may I talk with you about this early morning."

"Well I am waiting for an interview Mattie's at and got the crazy idea of adopting a child. It's something I mentioned to Ivan the other night but it was late and he was tired so we didn't want to discuss much. I was wondering what you and Papa thought before you adopted Mattie and I." Alfred asked.

"Well it's a big thing to think about. Yes you and Ivan should talk about it more and in depth." Arthur said as he groaned in pain from a headache.

"You okay Dad?" Alfred asked.

"Just the way your Papa is...I'll call you later. I've got a terrible headache." He moaned as Alfred laid back and sighed. Sometimes I just wish guys could get pregnant too, make this decision a lot easier and could just oops into it like Matt and Katy did...

Translation Guide

(Obtained via Google Translate)

Velikiy dyadya-Russian-Great Uncle

grand-père- French-grandfather

mi amor-French- my love

Dobroho ranku miy klenovyy lyst- Ukrainian- Good morning my maple leaf

Ya tak tebe lyublyu-Ukrainian- I love you so much.

Je t'aime de tout mon cœur ma femme chérie. N'oublie jamais ça.-French-I love you with all my heart my darling wife. Never forget that.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don't have much else to say here so remember to read (well you just did) and review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	9. Chapter 9

I don’t own Hetalia okay? I managed to get a few good ideas for this chapter, so I am starting on it while I have it. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

“Matthew Williams, Mr. Beilschmidt will see you now.” The receptionist said as she opened the door. Mr. Beilschmidt..... why does that sound familiar? Matthew said as he took a breath and headed into the station manager’s office.

“Why Mattie! I knew this application looked familiar.” The white haired station manager said turning to Matthew. “How’s your Papa these days?”

“Same as usual.” Matthew said. “Managed to get my brother and his husband annoyed at him on Friday.”

“Yeah Francy-pants complained of Alfie and Ivy being passive aggressive." Gilbert smiled, referring to the nicknames he had given to Francis, Alfred and Ivan and called them by whether they liked it or not. “Then again I don’t blame those kids. But we can catch up later.”

“I didn’t know you were the station manager of this place. Papa never went into too much about your job.” Matthew said quietly.

“Yeah, I doubt a lot of the stuff we, the bad touch trio and we are often called, do are things your father would talk about.” Gilbert smiled. “There was a reason he had me and Antonio plan you and your brother’s bachelor parties.” Matthew looked around uncomfortable at some of the weird things at both of them and remembering the pepto bismol he kept sneaking Alfred at his because of the all you can eat wing challenge Antonio concocted using some of the world’s hottest peppers. And that was one of the less scarring memories of Alfred’s bachelor party. Matthew just blocked out half of his from his memory but remembered Alfred giving him some alka seltzer and coffee before his ceremony because Gilbert would not take 'I’ve had enough’ for an answer. “But we can reminisce when your Papa Francy-pants is here, Ja? Now to business.”

“Please Mr. Beilschmidt.” Matthew nodded. 

“Ja, ja, so I am going to cut the crap Matt.” Gilbert started. “Viewership on the news is on the decline. Most people your age go to the Internet for their news.” Matthew nodded politely. “And after doing some demographic research I have found they found it is simply too boring. Yet these same people crave a reduction in bias in their news. Time and again it has been reported that local stations provide this. And with my little brother getting picked up into that national filth!” Gilbert said thinking of the contract his brother Ludwig signed with a cable news network. Matthew pulled back in shock. Man, it seems that Mr. Beilschmidt is mad that his brother got promoted like that....then again it is another network so yeah...... 

“So Ludwig got a contract somewhere else? I’m sorry to hear that.” Matthew said thinking if he comforted him that he’d have a better shot at the job.

“Well, it’s not like Ludwig doesn’t have potential himself. I got him his foot in the industry door, I just hope he doesn’t forget his older brother as he makes it big and gets wrapped up in that Hurst enterprise.....” God he’s got a chip on his shoulder..... “But this interview is about what you, Matthew Williams can do for me, Gilbert Beilschmidt, station manager.”

“Yes sir.” Matthew nodded.

“Well since Luddy is leaving, the stick in the mud with the most sway is leaving. I am revamping a lot of the department to attract the news for younger demographics. Most who watch how we have it now are old. Meaning they will die soon. You have to have alive viewers for it to matter in the first place. This is where you will come in Mattie boy.” Gilbert looked over Matthew’s resume. “I see you did not major in journalism but English. Good.”

“How is that good?” Matthew asked confused.

“Because the ones who major in it don’t often do what they were taught. I’ve been around this game awhile sonny boy.” Gilbert laughed. “But you also have a trustworthy face. You don’t look like a pushover, as long as you don’t let yourself be one I should say.” Matthew blushed. “I’ve seen you and your brother interact. I am one of your papa’s best friends remember....” Matthew rolled his eyes. “So by looking over your resume I see you’d be a perfect writer, but I also will throw it in the pot for junior anchor.”

“WHAT?” Matthew asked surprised.

“What is so shocking?” Gilbert asked. “You need to have more confidence in yourself boy. You’re not a bad face. Trustworthy and your voice isn’t so intimidating someone changes the channel out of fear. It’s almost sympatric for if you’d have to report bad shit. Goes down easier that you’re fucking snowed in or your house might get flooded off or swept away if the voice of the anchor is nice.” Matthew looked shocked and confused. “I don’t know what you know but over the past 10 years this area has had a few doozie weather events. I will say you are certainly in the running but I have to run this campaign for a few more weeks to get all the applicants I can but between you and me, you should hear back about it either way before Christmas.”

“I don’t want you to give me the job, any job just because of my papa being a close friend of yours.” Matthew said.

“Nein....I would never do something like that. The only time I used a little bit of nepotism in my work was to get little Luddy in the door of the business. But he’s the only one that got that benefit.” I know Ludwig is his younger brother so he can say the “little” thing about him but he’s the bigger one of the two..... “But I like your style. You’re free to go. Tell your Papa I said Guten tag.” With this Matthew left the office and headed to the waiting room where Alfred was sitting looking at some of the magazines. 

“So how’d it go bro?” Alfred asked thumping Matthew on the back. 

“Pretty good. Did you know Papa’s friend Gilbert worked here?” Matthew asked suspiciously.

“The guy who talked me into eating the wings Antonio made using his son’s hottest peppers from his garden? No I did not. Really takes a lot to act like nothing is wrong when your stomach is on fire and you don’t want to run out of the ceremony for a bad case of wing diarrhea. Nice way to start a marriage.” Alfred groaned but Matthew laughed. “So you think that’s funny. Should Katy be informed of where yours was?”

“No. Point taken. They got us good.” Matthew sighed. “But he seemed to like me and I hope that will work out.”

“So what’d he say?” Alfred asked as he opened the doors to his car.

“He has to wait a few weeks to make the final call but assured me I made the short list.” Matthew smiled.

“That’s something. Don’t stop looking though. You should have some backup plans.” Alfred suggested.

“I know that.” Matthew said as they headed back to the house. “Hey Al,”

“Yes?” Alfred asked curiously.

“What were you reading in there?” Matthew asked curiously. If he did recall correctly, he did see Alfred put a parenting magazine down.

“Nothing important.” Alfred said.

“I saw you reading a parenting magazine.” Matthew said.

“And your point?” Alfred asked.

“Why?”

Alfred rolled his eyes. Times like this reminded him just how in sync his brother could be with him. “You won’t make fun of me for it? Won’t think I am trying to upstage you in some weird way?”

“You reading the advice columns in women’s magazines again?” Matthew said.

“Well the idea popped around in my head every now and again before Katy said she was pregnant, don’t get started there, and getting bored reading the parenting magazines made me think that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if Vanya and I adopted. He kind of liked the idea but only really mentioned it once lately.” Alfred said.

“Well, I’ll go by what I know from us growing up and what you’ve done for me and Katy.” Matthew paused. “You had your real dick moments....” he began

“Geee thanks for the vote of confidence bro...” Alfred said rolling his eyes. “ I have to go to the grocery store, and get something to make for dinner and you know Katy’s favorite stuff. We’re almost out of Thanksgiving leftovers so don’t say a thing....”

“You got a huge turkey, there’s still plenty left. You can make more potatoes. Just because the desserts are eaten does not mean the leftovers are gone.” Matthew said as Alfred ignored him. 

“So what were you saying about me being a dick and it pertaining about my possible parenting skills?” Alfred said.

“Okay, but despite your dickishness, you are very protective of those you care about. Heck you stood up to Ivan on my behalf. Don’t act like he didn’t like the fact I lost my job and nearly drained the savings and Katy was working while pregnant. If you hadn’t said a thing he’d probably have beaten the crap out of me. Although Katy said she talked to him about it too.” Matthew said.

“Yeah I doubt she’d allow him to harm you over something like that. And she didn’t seem like the type to just let things happen when she could do something, even if it wasn’t a lot.” Alfred said. “But you are my brother. If I were not to stand up for you when there was a need for a hot piece for ass instead, what good would I be?”

“And that, despite your vulgar way of talking about Ivan, is why I think you would do good for a kid. You’re married to a very family conscious man. How many guys would put up with sisters like Natalya and Katy?”

“Nice way to talk about your wife, but yeah,” Alfred laughed as he grabbed a shopping cart, looking around at the store.

“Whatever, just talk to Ivan about it, hell if this goes well, and the fact Gilbert and Papa are friends works in my favor, we’ll be out of your hair by spring.” Matthew said.

“As much as I love you bro, and will help you however I can, sometimes your guys’s presence makes things hard.” Alfred said.

“Awwww am I cock blocking you?” Matthew teased. “Try having 9 or more months of no action. You’d be surprised at even though it’s medically okay early on how much she wouldn’t feel right about it, even though she’s fine at work. You know how many jackasses wouldn’t move stuff around so she could scan the feed bags?” Alfred shook his head as he headed down the frozen food isle looking at the various family meals. “Yeah it’s a lot. Saw that when I came to pick her up one day and if it wouldn’t get the customer to complain and possibly get her fired, I’d have yelled at him.”

“You know,” Alfred said as he tossed a bag of frozen potatoes into the cart, “Sometimes let that hockey player Matt out on douchebags like that. Your lack of confidence is holding you back.”

“And you are out of French fries again? I swear there was a big 5 lb bag in there on Thursday.” Matthew noted.

“That bag was like three quarters empty.” Alfred said looking at frozen chicken kiev “You think she’d like this? I want her to have something nice on the start of a normal week here.”

“Just because Kiev is the capital of Ukraine does not mean....” Matthew said rolling his eyes. “Just let me handle it.”

Ivan opened the door with a sigh. “The downside of the job, when I have to leave the house for pointless meetings.”

“Oh Vanya, I was not expecting you back till later.” Katyusha said. “I have some soup made for lunch if you had not eaten already. I used the leftover turkey before it went bad.” 

“I think I will, I haven’t had anything except a pastry from the break room.” Ivan said. 

“I will get you some.” Katyusha said as Ivan followed her into the kitchen and poured him a mug of tea as well. She placed down the bowl and looked at her younger brother. “So, how was your work today.”

“Boring. You wouldn’t believe how frustrating it is to explain simple mechanics to people who should have known better. But it comes with the job. I’m just very grateful that I don’t have to live in the city. It was a nightmare trying to get to the office today.” Ivan sipped his tea. “I can see why Fredka’s Papa would want to move out here.”

“Why couldn’t they just retire up this way instead of risking it all on a failing business?” Katyusha said.

“Because Francis is not very pragmatic. I knew that since I met the man. I just try not to say anything about it in front of Fredka. That is his parent after all. Speaking of adoptive parents and Fredka, seems that he’s been tossing the idea of adopting around.” Ivan sighed as he took a spoonful of the leftover turkey soup. “This is pretty good sestra you saved this thing.”

“Now Fredka’s cooking is nowhere near as bad as his father’s.” Katyusha said.

“But it is getting old and only the dark meat was left.” Ivan said.

“I am good with things like this.” Katyusha said “And I think that would be just darling of you two. You know there’s tons of children in the orphanages back in Russia who need some Papas like you two would be.” She said knowing that if she didn’t take up the mantle when she did, that may have been the fate that Ivan and Natalya faced. Those orphanages were rough at best and deadly at worst. 

Ivan blushed and took a deep slurp of his soup. “It’s only an idea that Fredka mentioned once. We hadn’t discussed it much further. And I doubt any agency would want to let us adopt if we had you and Matvey and your baby in the house at the same time.” He wanted to dodge the question. “Speaking of him, where is he and Fredka?”

“At the news station and then doing some shopping.” Katyusha said. “Apparently from this message Matvey sent the station manager is a friend of his Papa’s. This could be very good for him.”

“Or very bad.” Ivan said glumly. 

“Have faith Vanya.” Katyusha said sipping her tea. 

“Have some of your soup too. I haven’t seen you eat a thing all day and you need your strength.” Ivan insisted. 

“I don’t want to seem like I am eating all your food Vanya.” Katyusha said.

“You’re pregnant. Eat to your heart’s fill.” Ivan smiled.

“If you insist.” Katyusha sighed. 

She’s too meek and giving for her own good. Then again she told me off the other day for doubting Matvey. If he’s trying right now to get a job and stumbled across something that might be of use to him in the way of networking connections. Ivan then thought about it. This would be for Katyusha. He looked at his phone and saw Francis’s number. If his friend is the manager where Matvey applied, maybe, just maybe if I humor him with his dreams and such, then he will convince his friend to hire him....Closing his eyes he pressed the call button. Please be busy, please let me leave a message..... As the phone rang, a jovial voice picked up “‘ello! Ivan I did not expect you of all people to call.”

“Well,” Ivan took a breath. Do not tell him the true intent yet. It would seem rather rude to beg him to beg his friend to give his son a job. “Katyusha and I were talking about the baby and she was lamenting on the fact that the baby’s grandparents live so far away. She doesn’t know what became of our mother and our father is dead, so you and Arthur would be the only grandparents they’d have.” Blow smoke up his ass....he likes that.....

“Yes I would love to be closer to mos petits enfants,” Francis said. “But you heard Arthur when he heard about the idea I floated past everyone. You all just seemed so against it.” 

Okay Ivan, make it good.... “We were concerned about yours and Arthur’s financial futures. You two are not as young as you used to be and we all know how proud Arthur would be if something were to happen.” 

“That is true.” Francis said.

“And he still really likes his job in the city. It is not one that he can do like Fredka and mine’s is. He has to be there.” Ivan said. “But I could arrange a few meetings with the local tourism department and chamber of commerce for you. And think more on what you are good at and skilled at already. Maybe make a fine destination restaurant here that is something you can handle.” 

“Hmmmmmm..... I will talk with you more on that. That does not seem like a bad idea.” Francis said. “But you must tell me how Mathieu is doing. He seemed so depressed at everything.”

“He’s got a job interview with a....” Ivan looked at Katyusha’s phone and read the name roughly to hide the fact that he knew Francis’s friend could be Matthew’s manager “Gilbert ummmm... let me see how you say... Beilschmidt....”

“Oh! Small world! I shall call ol Gil and tell him to hire Matthew on!” Francis said.

“Don’t be so blatant!” Ivan said in a commanding tone. Realizing how this could come off offensive, he backtracked “If Matvey is to get his confidence back, we don’t want his Papa’s influence to be obvious.” 

“You are right.” Francis said. “I guess your disdain for me was only tiredness. Understandable. I will look into what you said later and I know how to suggest things to people that I want that make it seem like their idea. You should just ask Arthur sometime.” At this a ‘oh sot off you wanker’ was heard in the background. “Au revior!”

“Proshchay” Ivan said as he hung up the phone. Please for the love of god don’t get me roped up in that man’s hair-brained schemes. I just wanted him to convince his friend to give Matvey the job....... 

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don’t have much else to say on this chapter so remember to read (Well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Hetalia okay? I am so glad to see you guys like this story so I am working a little harder on it than some of my others. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Francis sighed as he looked around the house with a smile. So Mathieu is getting everything back together. I know he can do it. But his Papa can grease the wheels so he does get that job. But Ivan does have a point. He would feel terrible if I forced Gilbert to hire him. Arthur turned to Francis slightly annoyed and looked at him. “So who was that Frog?” Arthur said as he placed some headache medicine in his hand and took a drink. 

“Oh it was Ivan, Lapin” Francis smiled.

“Ivan?” Arthur asked as Francis nodded. 

“Oui.” Francis nodded. “Apparently Mathieu is applying for a job where Gilbert is the manager.”

“Well now. Did he know that before he went in?” Arthur asked.

“Nope.” Francis said, “Well at least it sounded like he didn’t know from what Ivan said. This may work in my little maple leaf’s favor. You remember how much Gilbert liked the boys.”

“Yes, but he’s also a different person at work. I have never seen anyone more efficient at anything, expect perhaps his brother. Ludwig is quite the prick. At least Gilbert has a sense of humor and is good to go to the pub with now and again.” Arthur said as he flipped through the channels on the television. “Nothing on.....”

“Well since you are still on holiday then maybe we can do something....” Francis said with a laugh. “hohohohoon”

“Not now, I’m still recovering from your suggestion last night. I think Alfred may think I blew him off earlier....”

“Oh?” Francis asked. “What did he want?” 

“Mentioned that he was thinking about adopting, him and Ivan was.” Arthur said. “I had too much of a headache to discuss it more and just told him to talk to Ivan. He said that he just mentioned it once to him so far and he didn’t seem too opposed but not enthusiastic either.” 

“Well you weren’t at first either.” Francis said. “Quite apprehensive of the idea.”

Arthur lay back on the couch staring at the ceiling. He recalled that time nearly 25 years earlier. Things seemed so much different then, the tattoo that only Francis knew about on his butt much less faded and saggy, careers just started, house just bought together, amazing the realtor as they had bickered during the tour about which rooms were which and who would be better for decorating. Heck he remembered closing day when Francis made fun of him for humming along with Wheezer’s “Buddy Holly” saying he looked just like him without the glasses. So he turned and called Francis Mary Tyler Moore. So their first day in their new house started with an argument. But that is when the idea of adopting came into their mind. Arthur thought they were too young, too immature, they weren’t ready, careers just not stable enough. Which to this Francis said was the exact reason to think of it. After arguments and discussions that led to arguments, that Christmas was the first with Alfred and Matthew, their newly adopted sons. Thinking on then and then to the present day, Arthur muttered something to himself. “I wonder if my tattoo looks fine.....”

“It’s getting blurred with age.” Francis said sitting next to Arthur. “Maybe you could get it touched up” Arthur rolled his eyes. “I am the only one seeing it anyway, at least on purpose. Don’t feel like you’re doing it for anyone other than moi”

“Why did I marry you?” Arthur asked placing his face in his palm. 

“Because you love me so.” Francis teased.

Meanwhile, Natalya looked over her textbook with intense scrutiny. It was the accounting class she had. Knowing she had wanted an MBA and to move up the business world after being told in high school she had the cutthroat attitude that would be perfect for the world of business than a violent path she was headed on. Which when she made this decision it relieved Katyusha because she knew that both Ivan and Natalya would keep out of trouble. Ivan had gotten in trouble for going after people who made fun of his sisters and while Katyusha kept it to herself when it happened, Natalya had been sent home from school for fighting and when she explained what happened, no matter what damage Natalya had done, Ivan would add his own and he’d get in trouble. This was her final year before she could head onto the MBA courses and then get in the door to making leading decisions and maneuvers and deals for companies. She also had wanted to see if she couldn’t parlay it into working in Russia or at least frequent the country when she did get to work. She hardly remembered any of it and wanted to connect back. It was at this when Toris sat down beside her. “What do you want?” She said as she intensely stared at the chapter on the regulations for stock accounting. 

Toris smiled nervously. Both had come back to the dorm early and while classes weren’t to begin until the following week, the cafeteria and library and many other student facilities were open for those who stayed on campus or were coming back early from the break. “Ummmmmm” He began not wanting to disturb Natalya but at the same time knowing how she was when it came to studying. She was intense during the midterms but while finals weren’t for a few more weeks, she was determined almost focused entirely on it. “I really enjoyed this holiday at your brother’s house.”

“It was certainly was surprising, I have to agree.” She highlighted a key phrase in the textbook not looking up at Toris. “I thought that Alfred’s brother didn’t have the balls to produce a child.”

“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?” Toris asked as Natalya glared at him. She did not like her brother-in-laws and thought her siblings deserved much better than they had. Much better. Like famous singers, actors and politicians, rich businessmen, even if it was realistically never going to happen. She only like Matthew marginally better than Alfred because Matthew wouldn’t say anything to her, but Alfred would cuss her out if Ivan was not around. Which would lead Ivan to knowing what happened between the two and he’d be mad at both of them. 

“Possibly.” Natalya said as she capped the highlighter. “But big sister and big brother could do so much better.”

“Possibly.” Toris replied. “I had just gotten off the phone with my parents back in Lithuania.”

“So, how are they doing?” Natalya asked gruffly, but Toris could tell she was genuinely interested. 

“Well they are doing pretty well.” Toris began. “I told them about you and they said they would get me two tickets to Lithuania for the Christmas break. They said you sounded like a good hard working woman and wanted to meet you.” Natalya looked at him blankly. “That is if you want to. If not, I can tell them you have a commitment with your family and they will more than understand.”

Natalya closed her textbook and looked at Toris who was smiling and sweating nervously. She paused and placed her highlighter to her lips. I did already do a holiday visit to the family for Thanksgiving and I know how Alfred reacted to me. I know it might upset big brother but at the same time I could say that it is just to keep down fighting between me and his husband....She did look over at Toris’s nervous face. Lithuania wasn’t exactly Russia, but it was close and she would like to see the area they were born, so they could easily make a trip into Russia if they wanted. It was 11 hours from Vilnius, where Toris was from to Moscow, so depending on how long they were there, a weekend trip wouldn’t be hard to do. “How long would we be there?”

“My parents wanted to make it worth the cost, so they would get us a flight leaving on the 19th of December and come back after the New Year.” Toris said as he looked at Natalya.

“Sounds fair. As long as sometime we do take a few days to go to Moscow.” Natalya smiled as she placed her textbook in her bag. 

“I guess we can, I mean it is a long drive.” Toris said.

“I’m used to long drives to visit a vacation destination. I grew up here. Most of this country’s states are the size of European countries.” Natalya stated. “We came over here when I was little. I do not remember much of the land I was born in. I have never been back. I would love to see it.” she said calmly.

“Sounds fun! I’ll tell my parents!” Toris said as he pulled Natalya in close, much to her surprise and hugged her and kissed her cheek. What have I gotten myself into? Natalya thought as she saw Toris run back to his dorm room. 

Coming back from the grocery store, Alfred opened the door and Matthew followed back in. “Honey I’m home!” Alfred yelled after he saw Ivan’s car in the driveway, always loving the kitschy attitude that that had. 

“I’m in here dorogoy” Ivan said from the kitchen as Alfred entered with Matthew behind him starting to put away some of the groceries. Ivan smiled and looked at Matthew, “So how did the interview go?”

“Seemed to go okay. It was a friend of Papa’s who was the manager.” Matthew said.

“Well that must play in your favor....” Ivan said pleasantly as he thought to himself, And I put a little birdie into your papa’s head to talk him into giving you that job. 

“Maybe.” Matthew said as he pulled a glass down from the cupboard and poured himself a glass of water. “He did seem to like me and said my resume was good. Was looking to do a total shake up of the staff at the station to make things more interesting for younger viewers.”

“Don’t tell me he’s going to be one of those ‘How do you do fellow kids’ types?” Alfred said as he opened a can of coke.

“Seemed to have more sense than that. He did seem rather mad his brother got a job on the cable circuit. And not because of competition but because of his brotherly feelings.” Matthew explained. “ Said I had a good face and trustworthy voice and may put me in the running for the replacement for his brother Ludwig.” With this Katyusha squealed, causing Alfred and Ivan to wince in the pitch but then smiled at her with that joy.

“Oh my dearest Matvey being the local news anchor. I would be the luckiest wife ever.” Katyusha said kissing him on the cheek, causing Matthew to blush. Alfred and Ivan looked away sniggering, kind of embarrassed but kind of happy for them. 

“It’s just the local news.” Alfred said quietly to Ivan rolling his eyes. 

“Just let her have this. Sure, he will not likely get the top job there but I have a good feeling that if Gilbert likes Matthew enough he will get it.” Ivan smiled.

“Mattie never said which friend of Papa’s he was interviewed by.....”Alfred said turning to Ivan with his eyebrow raised in curiosity. “You don’t watch that channel’s news too much so not like you would have heard the station manager’s name there?”

Ivan looked around, seeing that Alfred sensed something was up. Alfred tapped his foot, causing Ivan to sigh. “I saw the name he texted Katyusha.”

“So the only thing you did was spy on your sister’s phone?” Alfred said. 

Damn! Fredka can read me like a book on this issue! Ivan thought as he noticed Alfred’s face. “I saw the name, then knowing he was friends with Francis and called him into talking Gilbert into offering the job.”

Alfred sighed and took Ivan into a corner. “Well, we just won’t tell Matt about that. I’d wreck his self confidence to think that his brother-in-law begged his papa to beg his friend for a job.”

Ivan looked down in shame. “I am sorry Fredka. I wanted to help him and Katyusha....”

“No, not mad at you for that at all. It’s great you want to help him. I would have done something to help him too, maybe more direct than that but yeah, points for wanting to help him.” Alfred said, looking into Ivan’s eyes with a smile. “Just, don’t tell him.”

“What if your papa tells him?” Ivan asked.

“Say he’s blaming it on you to cover up his idea and that you were just telling him how he was doing.” Alfred smiled. “That’s not a total lie. But only if it comes out.” 

“Deal.” Ivan said as he walked out of the kitchen taking Alfred’s hand with him. With his sister’s thoughts on the matter in mind and the fact Alfred had mentioned the idea before, he figured it would be a good idea to actually discuss his idea a little more. “So,” Ivan began.

“So what big guy?” Alfred asked looking at him.

“Well, you did mention the adopting idea earlier a few days ago....” Ivan blushed looking away. This was something he knew would be a big step for them and would take a lot of patience stress and work. As big and imposing as he looked, he was rather kind hearted deep down and didn’t know just what to do about the idea of having a family of their own. The idea of merely being an uncle was intimidating to him. But then there was the fact he wasn’t the kid’s parent, just a family member who could spoil him when the parents would not. 

“Yeah about that....” Alfred said, suddenly becoming nervous now that he and Ivan were seriously sitting down talking about it, it kind of seemed like a bad idea or something they should wait on. “Maybe we could wait till Katy has the baby, see how good we do with a kid we can give back because I don’t know how to handle all that baby stuff.....”

“Well speaking of Katyusha, she did mention that there were orphanages in Russia that were full of kids who need a good home....” Ivan said as Alfred looked away. “Look we do not need to have this discussion now....”

“Well I kind of do want to open it up.” Alfred gulped. “I mean I tried to call my dad to ask how it was he and Papa came to the brilliant idea of adopting Mattie and I, but I think Papa talked him into something with a late night and a lot of wine again so he couldn’t talk much, all he said was to talk to you.”

“I do remember when I called Francis, I heard your dad say ‘sot off wanker’ in the background.” Ivan said. “All I am certain of right now is-” At this a techno song from the early 2000s started to play on Ivan’s phone. “-Natalya is calling.”

“Is that ‘Around the World by ATC’? That song that was huge in like 2000?” Alfred asked, remember hearing it on the radio as a kid.

“Yeah. Natalya did a dance routine to it when she was in first grade for the talent show. That’s why I picked that for her ringtone.” Ivan explained as he answered it “She was big on bands like that, Britney Spears, those types at that age.” Alfred’s mouth dropped. “Privyet Natalya,” Ivan stood up and headed into the corner to talk to his younger sister. 

I cannot imagine that freaking witch as a 6 year old girl dancing to that song. Just what the hell? How did that become that? Alfred thought as he looked over the back of the couch at Ivan who was talking with Natalya on the phone. “Really?” He heard Ivan say. 

“Da big brother. I will be visiting Lithuania with Toris over the holidays and we will be leaving out when the semester ends in about two weeks. We will not be back until the New Year. So unfortunately I will have to miss sharing Christmas with you. Oh and Toris says hello to you and Alfred and thanks you for your hospitality despite not knowing that he was coming. He would not give me confirmation until it was so late.” Natalya said.

“Well we will certainly miss you.” Ivan said earnestly.

“Well I must study some more. Finals are soon and I wish to do well. I just thought I should inform you of this arrangement.” Natalya said.

“Well study hard.” Ivan said. 

“I will. Goodnight big brother.”

“Goodnight Natalya.” Ivan said hanging up and heading over to where Alfred was. “Well, Natalya won’t be joining us for Christmas. She’s going to Lithuania with her new boyfriend.”

Yes! My Christmas came very early this year! Alfred thought as he put on a sympathetic face for Ivan, “What a shame. Well I think Toris is a good enough guy. Seems kind of scared of her actually. But if he makes her happy, then I guess that is enough.”

“I guess you are correct Fredka.” Ivan sighed. “I will miss her on that holiday.”

“Isn’t Epiphany like January 7th? If she can sneak away from school then then we could have a good ol fashioned Russian Christmas then.” Alfred suggested. Shit! Did you just offer that? Well it will make Vanya happy but damn....Way to screw yourself Braginsky-Jones......

“That is right Fredka!” Ivan said as he hugged Alfred close and kissed him. “I can’t believe I forgot about that. And we’d have Matthew and Katyusha over too! You’re so smart.” 

“Yeah that I am....”Alfred said rolling his eyes.

“And it is that reason I think you’d be a good dad.” Ivan smiled kissing him on the forehead.

“Don’t put yourself down. You’re good with your family,” Alfred said Even if I want to throttle your sister.

“So are you. If I had parents like yours, I would have gone insane.”

“How do you know I’m not?” Alfred teased. I must certainly be if I suggested the Epiphany thing.....

“I know you too well.” Ivan winked as he kissed him. “I love you.”

“Love you too big guy.” Alfred said. 

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. ATC was a Russian band and in 2000 their song “Around the World” that la la la la song and figured it would be something fun for a kid Natalya to have in her closet. Now will anyone use that against her when she acts like a jerk to others? Certainly would be embarrassing if you have a front like hers. Anyway, remember to read, well you just did, and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm


	11. Chapter 11

I don’t own Hetalia okay? I am so glad to see so many of you like this story. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

December came in with a cold breeze as Alfred started to decorate the house as soon as the final month of the year began. It was one of his favorites as he loved the sweets but also was quite a generous person himself. And with the addition of his brother and his wife in the house before the season, he wanted to make sure it was the best ever. With Natalya planning to be an ocean away, he wanted to savor it. Thanksgiving involved minimal issue than could be expected with her but he did not want to push his luck. With her in Lithuania to the new year, the only chaos he could really see would be from his parents. And after how Ivan had reacted when they argued when he was trying to sleep, he hoped they would mind their manners. It would be Christmas after all. 

Once Alfred had put the tree up, he had gathered the gifts he had picked up when they had taken Francis shopping a few weeks before and looked at Ivan. “So, all we got is some baby stuff and a few things for each other.” Alfred said.

“Do not fret my love.” Ivan smiled. “There’s still at least 2 weeks until Christmas. What good would the gifts be if they are just sitting there?” 

“I suppose…” Alfred pouted, “But what if I wait until the last minute and I cannot get what I want to for someone?”

“We are all adults here, I don’t think anyone would hold it against you and would know your generous heart.” Ivan rolled his eyes. He would be happy with nothing but a bottle of vodka and a sunflower from Alfred for Christmas but he would never let that be. He was the type that would fall into that old twist in the old Gift of the Magi story to make sure Ivan and everyone he cared about had something beautiful for Christmas. 

“I suppose….” Alfred said as Ivan had to look away. He had a weakness for his pouting.

Katyusha walked by and noticed the tree and the gifts. “Oh. It’s that time already. I had been meaning to talk to you two about something.”

“Sure Katy.” Alfred smiled.

“Well I have a bit of money saved in a Christmas fund,” Katyusha began. Much like Alfred she was very generous with what she could give. One of Ivan’s most treasured possessions was the scarf he always wore that she had made for him the year after their great uncle died. “And I have yet to do some shopping for Matvey. And some of the things that I am looking at I do not want to order online, so I was wondering if I could borrow Fredka from you Vanya for the day.” She said looking towards Ivan.

“Why can’t you go yourself?” Ivan asked. “I mean you can drive and if you need to use one of our cars, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Me neither.” Alfred said.

“Well I want to make sure some of the things I was thinking of getting him fit. And what better idea than using his twin brother.” Katyusha laughed. “I can also get something of an idea of what he would look in them.”

Alfred smiled but rolled his eyes. Matthew and Katyusha had settled in okay once they had gotten used to the idea while Matthew looked for work. He still had not heard back from Gilbert and he had applied at a few other places but so far there was no call backs. It was wearing on him and everyone could tell. But Alfred still had hope that he’d get something soon. 

But while he was living with them, there was the fact that sometimes laundry would get mixed up. It was just a fact of life. And while if Ivan or Katyusha’s clothing getting mixed with someone else’s load was easy enough to sort out, Alfred and Matthew were the same size. So unless it was painfully obvious who it belonged to, like Alfred’s I Want to Believe t shirt or Matthew’s maple hockey jersey, things could get mixed up. Knowing this, Katyusha saw this as a chance to get her husband some new clothes for Christmas and not have to worry about it fitting badly. 

“Sounds like a good idea big sis.” Ivan laughed. “I will have to then borrow Matt for that reason myself.” Alfred rolled his eyes. “Why that expression dorogoy?”

“Sometimes I question if you know what I like.” Alfred sulked.

“What you like and what you look good in are two different things sometimes…” Ivan said. “But sounds like a good idea. Tomorrow you and Fredka and Matt and I will handle the Christmas shopping.”

“Good.” Katyusha said with a smile that caused Alfred to gulp slightly. “I have everything planned out on just what is needed and where I need to go and what to fit and so forth.” He looked over at her nervously and just smiled and gave an honest thumbs up, worried at what he would be subjected to. Well as long as no one but Katy sees me I guess I can put up with it for her…… He thought as he changed the channel on the TV. I would not look good in anything that Matt likes…… With this, Matthew came out of the bathroom and looked around. 

“So, what’s up guys?” He asked, not aware of what had just been planned. 

“We’re going Christmas shopping tomorrow. Katyusha and Fredka and You and I.” Ivan said looking up from his book. 

“Why am I going with you?” Matthew asked, “Sorry if that sounded rude…...” He added, not noticing how his tone may have been construed as offensive or insulting.

“Because I am getting things for you moya lyubov” Katyusha said as she kissed him on the cheek. “And Vanya wants to do so for Fredka as well. And we cannot exactly have the people we are shopping for with us, can we?” 

“Guess not Katy.” Matthew smiled as he sat beside her.

“Any word for any place you’ve been looking at?” She asked politely.

“Not yet. And the news station was the only one who I had an interview with.” Matthew sulked. “Maybe I should try getting a different job or getting into a different field.”

“NYET.” Katyusha and Ivan said firmly. At this, both Matthew and Katyusha looked over at Ivan.

Seeing their confusion, he spoke up. “I remember your work from college. We were all in the same year, you Fredka and I.” Ivan said. “I also remember the work you helped Fredka with. He may be good at engineering things, but he can be hopeless with his reports.” Alfred looked at Ivan annoyed. He ignored him and went on. “I do not think he could have done as well as he did with some of his compositions if not for you. There are times I correct his grammar and I am the one where English is a second language. You are good with such things. Do not give up on yourself. Now I did hear that many people who go to law school have majors like yours. But no offense Matt, I cannot see you as a lawyer.”

Matthew stared at Ivan in shocked silence. He had slowly been warming up to him since he had the interview at the news station and the rather stern talk Katyusha had given him. “Well thanks for that Ivan….” He said astonished.

“I must give credit where credit is due.” Ivan shrugged and went back to his book. The air was filled with a stunned silence when suddenly Matthew’s phone began to ring, causing “Tom Sawyer” by Rush to fill the air. Thank god I had changed it because I had it on Animals by Nickelback, or well Al changed that at my wedding and I never changed it back….

“I’ll take this in the kitchen.” Matthew said dismissing himself and heading into the kitchen. “Hello?”

“Ah, Guten Tag Matthew!” Gilbert said. “I have good news for you, well it’s news for you at least.”

“What is it sir?” Matthew asked nervously.

“Well I have finished the interviews and I want you to come in for another step.” Gilbert said. Matthew rolled his eyes It’s always like this. Some sort of extra steps to filter you out and not give you the job. It’s insane. Do they even want people working there? Knowing he couldn’t exactly say what he was thinking, he began to speak when Gilbert continued. “Now don’t you go thinking I am jerking you off with administrative rejection bullshit Matthew. I like you too much to do something that dumb. Trust me, as long as I have a say in the matter you will have a job here. Now I haven’t issued the official offer, like I said, final decisions on roles haven’t been issued yet. But I want to see you here for a screen test at 11 am on Monday. Das est gut?”

“Sher gut, danke, Sir!” Matthew said, knowing some basic tourist level German wanting to impress Gilbert beyond being his friend’s son.

“Ah, du sprichst Deutsch?” Gilbert said delighted.

“Ah…Nein Mr. Beilschmidt. I speak more French than German, I just know the basics to get from the terminal to baggage claim to the connecting flight. You see Katy and mine’s flight to Ukraine had a stopover in Berlin and I didn’t want to seem like an arrogant tourist.” Matthew explained. 

“Ah, that’s still fine. But you are one of the ones I am screen testing. Basically, what that means is I give you a fake story and a few scripts, cue cards and run it through like you were really on the news. No pressure.” Gilbert laughed.

“Thank you for that sir. I will see you then.” Matthew said.

“See you then. And don’t act like you have a stick up your butt like Ludwig did. If there is one thing bad, I can say about my kleiner Bruder is that he acts like such a prick. He needs to loosen up. Nice talking to you Mattie and as always tell your Papa I said Guten Tag!” With this, he hung up and Matthew stood in the kitchen with a slight shock. Katyusha headed into the kitchen to check on him. 

“Is everything okay Matvey?” She asked worried.

“Yeah. I have to go back to the news station on Monday at 11.” Matthew said flatly.

“Why?” Katyusha asked worried.

“Because I got a screen test. Gilbert was serious on me as an anchor replacement….” Matthew said astonished, happy, and yet slightly confused and scared.

“Well then Matvey.” Katyusha said as she wrapped his arms around him, jumping up, causing an awkward looking scene if their brothers were to walk in with her ample chest. “I swear you have this. This Christmas will be so very merry.”

“That it will.” Matthew blushed as he kissed Katyusha. He then whispered in her ear “if you can be quiet, after dinner we can spend some quality time together. Don’t want Al or Ivan to hear us. That’d be rather awkward…...”

“Ah, feeling rather romantic, are we? Confidence coming back?” Katyusha said.

“One could say so.” Matthew said. “And we won’t hurt the baby if that is what you are worried about.”

“Well let’s just see where the night takes us moya lyubov” Katyusha said as Alfred and Ivan walked in. 

“So, what’s the party for?” Alfred asked. “And what is with your ringtone being Canadian rockers?”

“Do tell.” Ivan said curiously.

“I do recall you changed it to some filthy Nickelback ones before Al.” Matthew said rolling his eyes. But no. I got a screen test Monday at the station. And it seems I may have a job there no matter what. Gilbert seems to really like me.”

Nice. Did Francis talk to him? He didn’t seem to say anything to make me think that Gilbert is giving this to him as an appeal to Francis… Maybe I didn’t need to make the promises I did to that Frenchman after all. At least I hope so. Ivan thought as Alfred spoke up. “That’s great bro. I told you you’re not hideous. I mean we’re twins and I’m not.”

“But your ego is still huge and yet impenetrable. How does Ivan stand it?” Matthew said snarky.

“I honestly find it kind of funny and cute.” Ivan said to answer Ivan’s question. “But that is good news. Hopefully, this is a very promising sign.”

“We have got to celebrate bro! Burger Barn on me!” Alfred said as he grabbed Matthew, who still had a hold on Katyusha, and dragged the two to his car. “Come on Vanya, you know they have stuff other than burgers.”

“If you are celebrating this with Matvey, then maybe you should let him choose, da?” Ivan sighed as he put his coat on. “And it is cold out there, let Katyusha and Matvey get coats.”

“The Burger Barn is fine with me right now.” Matthew said as he picked his coat off the rack. “It’s the thought that counts after all.”

“That it is.” Ivan said as he followed Alfred to the car.

The next day, Katyusha woke up early, amazed she was not feeling sick as was usual and headed to the kitchen. This trip was her idea so she thought it would be a good thing to make breakfast that morning. She would be shopping with Alfred who would be happy with something like McDonalds, but she wanted to do better. Once she had finished the breakfast, she woke the men up. “Oh boys, breakfast is ready.” She yelled pleasantly as they slowly came to the table and began to eat. Sure, it was rather like she was their mother than their wife and sister and sister in law, but she was also a guest of her brother’s home. It was in her nature to do things like this. Alfred saw the plate and grabbed a fork as Katyusha poured him some coffee. “Food gets you moving?” She laughed.

“Well Vanya says so….” Alfred said as he began to drink the coffee and wake up. “So, where was it you wanted to go to?”

“I’ll tell you. I have it all planned out. I do appreciate you being so willing to help me out with this. I know it must seem so silly of me to ask something of you.” Katyusha blushed.

“Not at all. It’s what I do. You’re family.” Alfred said as Ivan sat down and smiled at the fact that his husband got along with at least one of his sisters. “So, what do you got planned with Mattie?” He asked Ivan.

“A few things I have on my list.” Ivan said. He had been planning a big sort of weekend getaway over New Year’s so he could spend some time with just him and Alfred. While he did not mind helping his sister and her husband out when they needed it, he did love having the house for just him and Alfred. Gave one more freedom to be as loud as they wanted and do whatever they wanted, whenever and wherever without concern of who would see or hear. Then it hit him, If Fredka and I do adopt, well our love life would be affected in that way…. I mean you cannot exactly spend a night of passion all over the house when there is a child present. It can be done, I mean Fredka told me many times about his accidental entry to his fathers’ bedroom when he was a kid. But that is a rather selfish way to think of it. And Matthew and Katyusha will get a place of their own much sooner than a child would move out. And I know I didn’t marry Fredka just to fuck him. Ivan mused as he ate the breakfast that Katyusha had made. Once all was said and done, Alfred put his plate in the sink and got up.

“So, I’m finished. You ready to get this done?” He smiled.

“Sure.” Katyusha said as she kissed Matthew on the forehead. “I will be back soon. Don’t worry I could never ever ever find your brother attractive Matvey. I just need him to be my shopping assistant.” She looked over at Ivan. “Do not take anything I said there as an insult to your tastes Vanya.”

“Bez obid, starshaya sestra” Ivan said as he looked over to Matthew as Alfred and Katyusha left the house. He then looked over to Matthew who was looking at him blankly. 

“So, I take it you and I are shopping for Al and Katy today?” Matthew said. 

“Da” Ivan said as he sipped the last of his mug of tea. “I think we will head to that sporting goods store Fredka gets lost in sometimes. I am making his big gift a trip for us two to the ski resort not too far from here for the week over New Year’s. Do something nice for him before we have Natalya over for Epiphany.” Matthew knew what this was having been with Katyusha. They had both done both Christmases. But he knew that Alfred hated being in the same room as Natalya and she didn’t like him much either. But he put up with her for Ivan’s sake and that said a lot to his brother’s resolve and how dedicated he was to those he loved. 

“Al doesn’t ski.” Matthew said. 

“But he does do snowboarding. They have both where I am thinking. And to get him a new jacket and the like, much like Katyusha wants to do with Fredka, I want to make sure they fit before I give them to him. How convenient it is his twin brother is the same size.” Ivan laughed. 

“So that’s part of the reason Katy wants to have Al take her shopping. He’s certainly in for it.” Matthew laughed.

“I know. She is my sister and loves giving and when it comes to clothing, she wants to make sure what she gets for someone fits well. But I do remember when it came time for a new school year, and we went clothes shopping how that was.” Ivan laughed. “Katyusha is quite forceful when she wants to be. So, I worry just what Fredka will be put through.”

“Well, can’t be worse than having our dads taking us clothes shopping. Dad arguing practicality and how much abuse something can take, and Papa and his style comments.” Matthew laughed. “But come on, I got to get started if we want to get this done Ivan.”

“Da” Ivan smiled. 

Translation Guide

These were obtained via google translate, so syntax may not be the best.

Dorogoy-Russian-Darling

moya lyubov-Ukrainian-My love

Nyet-Russian-No

Guten Tag-German-Good Day

Das est gut-German-This is good?

Sher gut, danke, Sir-German- Very good, thank you sir!

du sprichst Deutsch? -German- You speak German?  
Nein-German-No

kleiner Bruder-German-little brother  
Da-Russian-Yes  
Bez obid, starshaya sestra- Russian-No offense taken big sister

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don’t have much else to say with this chapter, so remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own Hetalia okay? I am glad so many of you like this story. I don’t know how fast I can update before January again, and then it’ll be really busy. Anyway enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Alfred looked at the road ahead of him while playing with the radio. Katyusha was a rather quiet passenger who seemed to be pleasantly looking out the window at the scenery as it went by. It was a little bit of a drive to the city where most of the stores where they could do most of the shopping was a bit of a drive so Alfred stopped at a gas station to pick up some snacks for the road. He figured that Katyusha could use something to drink. “You feeling okay Katy? Morning sickness not bothering you too much?” 

“Surprisingly no,” Katyusha replied with a smile. 

“Well I am going to get something to drink from the store here while I fill up.” Alfred said. “Didn’t realize this was so low on gas. Are you thirsty?”

“You don’t have to get me anything.” Katyusha said as Alfred had headed into the gas station himself. He’s going to get you something to drink anyway, that’s just how he is…. She thought as she stood at the door of the car and smiled. It was nice to at least get up and stretch your legs when you were going on a long drive. As she looked at the parking lot, Alfred came out and handed her a bottle of ginger ale. 

“Figured you might want it. I don’t know if you’re still having issues with your stomach being upset but this is always good.” Alfred said as he began to pump the gas for his car. “So where do you think you want to shop for little ol’ Mattie anyway?”

“Oh there’s this place called Rustic Baron. It’s a lot like the place I used to work at, only they have a lot more different types of things.” Katyusha said as she pulled an ad from her purse. “And they have a great deal on a nice flannel jacket for Matvey and then I guess we will have to go to the nearby department store. My cholovik needs a handsome new wardrobe with new suits and everything if he becomes an anchorman. I would not be a very good wife if I did not give him what he needed to look his best on the job.”

“We don’t even know if he’s got it yet.” Alfred said. 

“He’s been called back for a screen test and from what it seems the station manager really likes him. I have a good deep feeling he’ll get it.” Katyusha said.

“That’s good. I hope he gets it too.” Alfred said. So I am going to be used to fit suits and the like for Mattie. Nice. This is going to be fun. Knowing there was still more of a drive coming up, he changed the conversation back to the topic of the baby. “So, when are you going to find out if you’re having a boy or a girl?”

“This next coming doctor’s appointment we should be able to see. ” Katyusha said as she put her hand on her abdomen and smiled. “Speaking of children, Vanya mentioned your idea of adopting. ” 

“He did, did he?” Alfred asked. Lately Ivan had been avoiding the conversation and was not going much of anywhere. He seemed to be trying to stave it off as if Alfred would drop it. And if he was honest with himself, Alfred didn’t know what he wanted to do about it either. It seemed like a wonderful idea and he did kind of like the image of having a kid of their own, even if they were not though blood. 

“Da” Katyusha said. “And if it is of any thought to you, I think that you and Vanya would make lovely parents. You could keep up with them at least. ” 

“So what’s Mattie think of his little bundle huh?” Alfred asked. He knew that Matthew was under enough stress as it was when it came to trying to find a job to ask him about the other thing on his mind.

“Well he was quite shocked when I told him. And excited a little bit. But at the same time he had been let go not too long before that. When he was still working at the company we did talk about it a little bit and he kind of liked the idea but like Vanya is with you, he was scared of it. I mean I did have a little sort of parental experience after our chudovyy dyadʹko died. It was not easy to make sure that Vanya and Natalya didn’t get sent back to Russia. We had been assured that our citizenship was in fine status by the time he did pass but I was still scared. And if not that, there could always be someone who would throw them into the foster care system. I heard horrible stories about what happened when kids are put in there and knowing them both, Ivan and Natalya would easily find themselves in trouble and the wrong side of the law. Last thing any of our family would have wanted for them was to get wrapped up in the Bratva or something like that. Oh there it is.” She said pointing to a sign with a red windmill on it. They are the place that competes with my former store and well, they are better. Free popcorn and coffee for the guests. Figured you would like that Fredka. I know you must be dreading this.” Katyusha said.

“Oh I am not. ” Alfred smiled.

“No need to lie to make me feel better. Vanya told me how much you hate clothes shopping. You’ll go to the store, pick a few things off the rack in your size and then go. You spend more time looking at jeans and t-shirts than you do proper clothing. ” Katyusha said in an almost reproachful way.

“Well if you had to deal with my dads you would not like it too much yourself. Dad would always complain about something I picked and then he’d get yelled at by Papa for dressing us like enfants pauvres and then it would be a huge fight. One year Matt had talked Papa into buying all his clothes from Hot Topic. You should see his 10th grade year book.” Alfred laughed. 

“He never told me about that one.” Katyusha laughed as she grabbed a cart to find Alfred had left her and stood in line with a bunch of people, mainly children and their grandparents to get popcorn and coffee. He then took the cup in his hand and drank it and popped the corn into his mouth as he looked to find a cross Katyusha standing by the jackets tapping her foot. “Seriously?” She asked as she looked at him. “How does Vanya put up with you when you do things like that?”

“Ask him.” Alfred sassed as Katyusha took him by the ear and turned him to follow her.

“Come with me. I could have easily done this all on the internet but I hate shopping for clothes on the internet anyway.” Katyusha rolled her eyes. “You can never tell if they fit well or not.” She then grabbed a few red flannel shirts and then turned to Alfred, taking his coffee and popcorn and handed him the shirts. “Try these on. Zaraz.” She said.

“Well where is the fitting rooms to do so?” Alfred sulked.

“Over there.” Katyusha sighed. “And don’t just put the shirt on over yours. I want to make sure it is perfect. And enough of yours and Matvey’s laundry has gotten mixed together so I know that you two are a near perfect fit of each other.”

“Fine. I’ll do it for you.” Alfred sighed. “You could teach my dad some things on shopping.”

“The things I could teach your parents would fill a library if the way they act every family gathering is any indication of anything.” Katyusha sighed. I hope Vanya is having a much better time than I am with Fredka....

Meanwhile, Matthew had pulled into the mall parking lot on the other side of town with Ivan in the passenger seat. They had decided to take Matt’s car as it was a little better on gas and headed to the large sporting goods store. He had planned a whole new snowboarding outfit for Alfred to go along with their trip he had planned for over the new year. It was rather short notice that Ivan had the idea so he couldn’t plan somewhere warmer, but that could always be a later thing. As they headed to the winter wear section, Ivan turned to Matthew and sighed. “Has Katyusha told you of something Fredka brought up?”

“Just what exactly?” Matthew said, turning his eyes from a hockey jersey he had liked featuring his favorite player. Ivan noticed what he was looking at and nodded. 

“Fredka is thinking of adopting. I think it’s a little too soon, but at the same time I do want to. So how do you deal with the idea of being a dad?”

“Well, I am getting used to the notion myself. At least with adoption you have time to process the idea from start to finish. It’s not a surprise.” Matthew said. “But one thing I was told by someone Katy worked with when I told him about it, you never will be fully ready. This guy had 3 grandkids by this point. So all I really can do is just hope Gilbert liked me enough to give me that job, that he does have the pull he claims and then I don’t have to worry about how I will support Katy and the kid.” He then turned to Ivan, “The blue ones would look better.” Matthew said as Ivan handed him the snowboarding clothing. 

“Go try them on.” Ivan ordered.

“Fine.” Matthew sulked as Ivan looked back and forth and put the jersey that Matthew was looking at in the cart and then placed his long brown jacket over it. Who says I cannot shop for Matthew now too? He smirked as Matt came out. “I have good freedom of motion on here. I could easily score a hat trick in this.”

“Good. You may put it in the cart.” Ivan said as Matthew suddenly noticed he was not wearing his jacket. “What?”

“You’re not wearing your coat....” Matthew said.

“I got hot.” Ivan said simply as Matthew shrugged and changed back. Matthew placed the clothes in the cart and Ivan headed towards the boots. “Yes, your feet seem to be the same size. I will save the receipt anyway but I don’t think that will be an issue.”

“Huh?” Matthew asked.

“New boots, obviously.” Ivan said rolling his eyes.

“I got this. Yes, my feet are about Al’s size and I know which boots work great for snowboarding. I do know all about winter sports and the like.” Matthew said. “Just what else would Al like here?”

“Oh there were a few shooting accessories he has had his eye on I was thinking of getting too.” Ivan said.

“Well you take a basket.” Matthew said and Ivan cut him off.

“You take the basket.” Ivan insisted. “I don’t want to put my coat back on and carrying it around is too much work.”

“Fine, when I’m back I’ll find the perfect boots for Al. I’ll meet you at the restaurant in this place. Be convenient for lunch.” Matthew said.

“Sounds fine.” Ivan said. 

Alfred headed out of the store with an exhausted sigh. After waiting for what seemed forever in the checkout line, he was able to get everything he and Katyusha needed for Ivan and Matthew’s Christmas. Katyusha was confused why Alfred had gotten a pickaxe for Ivan but he said that he had complained about his old one, and was still confused what he would do with it, but she sighed knowing that Alfred must have had some intention with it. Once the gifts were in the car, Katyusha then directed Alfred where to go. “That store over there. I will get my Matvey the best suits that would be perfect for him.” Alfred moaned. He remembered how hard it was to get the perfect flannel shirt and how many times he had to try on shirts of the different same size and she had found something wrong with the fit of most all of them until she found the one she was going to give him. It was going to be a nightmare with something like a suit she was thinking that he would be on television. She was quite excited at that idea and wanted to have him look really good. “Now do you have a problem Fredka?” Katyusha asked annoyed.

“No, not at all.” He said quickly and got in the car to drive over to the department store. He then found a spot and Katyusha quickly got out and Alfred ran to keep up. God I thought she was a few months pregnant but damn she is pretty determined. He looked around and saw that she had headed to the men’s wear section and saw the suits that were on a holiday sale. She had grabbed a few red and white ties and threw a set of separates into Alfred’s arms. “You know the drill.”

“I know.” Alfred said as he rolled his eyes with his back facing her.

“Did you just roll your eyes at me?” Katyusha said annoyed.

“How did you know?” Alfred sulked. 

“Vanya and Natalya did the same thing when we were shopping for clothes. I can tell.” Katyusha said. “Matvey doesn’t do that as much though.” So why don’t you just shop for this with him “And the reason I don’t shop for this with him is because these are intended for Christmas. It would ruin the surprise.” 

“You’re going to be a great mom Katy.” Alfred laughed with a sigh as he tried on the requested outfit and “You don’t take anything from anyone like that.”

“Well that’s good that you think so.” Katyusha smiled. Alfred opened the door to the dressing room and Katyusha sighed tapping her foot. 

“What do you think?” Alfred asked.

“Not bad…. It’s nice on you but it doesn’t have the right air for Matvey.” Katyusha said as she took a picture of the suit. “Just in case Vanya needs an idea….”

“Uggghhhh.” Alfred moaned. “I swear if he had his way, half my wardrobe would be given away.” 

“I don’t know how professional it is for an adult engineer to have a Batman tie.” Katyusha said. “He does have a point.”

“Most of my job I can do from home so they don’t care, or I just have to look nice from the waist up.” Alfred said as he took the next outfit from Katyusha and tried the mahogany brown three-piece suit on so Katyusha could see how it looked. “I cannot tell you how many meetings I have done with a nice shirt but no pants on.”

“I really did not need to know that. I hope you don’t do that when I am home.” She said crossly. 

“Unless I am in the office and I locked it….” Alfred said. 

“Well you have some decency.” Katyusha said. “But this isn’t your color.” Alfred gulped. “But it suits Matvey. We’ll take this one.” She said as she handed a few other suits for him to try and repeated the process until she had a few suits that were perfect in her mind. With this, she headed to the register to purchase, much to Alfred’s relief. As they headed to the front, he saw a few nice maternity dresses and he remembered what Matthew said about her size so he looked to Katyusha.

“You got this from here?” He asked.

“Yes, I will be fine.” Katyusha smiled. “I’ll meet you at the car if you need to finish something.” With this, he ran over, grabbed the dresses, trusting what Matthew had said on his wife’s size and quickly snuck to a register until he saw a few things that both Matthew and Ivan would like and then stood anxiously at the register while the line formed in front of him. Come on, come on, I have a lady waiting in a car. He whined in his mind before his turn came and he paid and left, running to the car to find Katyusha sitting in the passenger seat knitting. “Oh hello Fredka.” She smiled. 

“There was a line….” He said. “Anything else you need?”

“Nothing I cannot handle myself or online.” Katyusha smiled as she put away her knitting needles and put her seatbelt on. 

“Do you want to get something for lunch?” Alfred asked.

“I can make something at the house,” Katyusha began.

“Nonsense!” Alfred said. “You got to get something in you. You’re eating for two after all. We’ll spin by McDonalds over there!” with this, he started the car and headed to the restaurant. They got their food and Alfred ate greedily. “You know Natalya is going to Lithuania with her boyfriend for Christmas?”

“I haven’t been informed yet.” Katyusha said as she sipped her drink.

“Yeah she called Vanya the other day and told us.” Alfred said. “I still have to see what my dads are doing but they usually would want to come to our place. Especially with you and Mattie being here too. But I’d have to call them and make sure.”

“Does Vanya have a preference?” Katyusha asked.

“Haven’t asked him.” Alfred said honestly. “I’ll call them tonight and see. I mean their place isn’t like mine but I am sure we can work something. I don’t know. I had Thanksgiving planned for months but Christmas, I haven’t had much for Christmas.”

“Well talk to them and we can plan from there. I do want this to be nice for Matvey. I mean he’s had it rough. I have a good feeling about that job but no matter what I want him to have a good time. Poor man has had his confidence shaken when he didn’t need to. He often compares himself to you.”

Alfred paused. “He does?”

“Yes.” Katyusha said. “I don’t know why. I have told him time and time again he’s great but he brushes it off like I am his wife, like I am supposed to say that or because I love him so he thinks I am biased. I am not. Trust me if he wasn’t I would be onto him. I have had bad boyfriends before. One was too absorbed in his work and the other, well I just don’t know. Matvey is the best man I have known. And if he wasn’t I wouldn’t have married him. I do not like seeing him so down. But the appointment is next Friday and we should know if it’s a boy or a girl.”

“What do you want it to be?” Alfred asked.

“Healthy is all I want.” She said.

“What about Mattie?” Alfred asked.

“He wants a girl.” Katyusha said. 

“Oh boy.” Alfred said. “But yeah, I’ll call Dad and Papa when we get back and figure out Christmas. Whatever we do do, I can’t wait to see how you and Mattie like the stuff Vanya and I got you.” 

“I am sure you’ll like the same.” Katyusha said.

Translation Guide:  
(Obtained via Google Translate)

Cholovik-Ukrainian-husband  
chudovyy dyadʹko-Ukrainian-great uncle  
enfants pauvres-French-pauper children  
Zaraz. -Ukrainian-Now

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Thank you guys so much for your response on this fic! It makes me feel so good to see you guys liking it so. The store Katyusha and Alfred first go to is based on a chain called Rural King and they really do, at least before this craziness of this year, give free popcorn and coffee for customers. They’re big in the Midwest of the US so you may not be able to go there if you are in certain areas. But anyway remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

realm.


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own Hetalia okay? I am glad so many of you like this story. I don’t know how fast I can update before January again, and then it’ll be really busy. Anyway enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Seeing that Ivan and Matthew were not back yet, Alfred took the gifts he had gotten for the both of them and ran them up into the closet in his bedroom into the section that was his side that Ivan would never look in, especially after he had found some of Alfred’s old sweaty gym clothes in it. It wasn’t going to stay there long anyway, he had planned to wrap them that evening but first had to call his parents, wanting to know their plans for Christmas. But as almost as if his parents were psychic, his phone began to ring with the tone of “God Save the Queen” “Speak of the ol man….” Alfred said as he lay back on his bed and look around. “Y’llo Dad”

“Why hello to you too Alfred.” Arthur said with a laugh. “I was just wishing to give you a ring and apologize for not being there for your concerns the other day when you called. You know how Francis can be sometimes….”

“And you can never say no to him anyway….at least when it comes to things like that.” Alfred teased.

“Oh very funny young man.” Arthur said over the phone. “But speaking of that Frog, he wanted me to ask you if you and Matthew had plans for Christmas.” 

“Speak of the devil, that’s what Katy was having me ask you.” Alfred smiled. “She wanted to go shopping for Mattie and wanted to size a few things, so she dragged me along. And Ivan took Matt for the same reason. But yeah, so what did you want to know, because we haven’t planned much here.”

“Well I ask because the frog is wanting to have the family back here at your old childhood home.” Arthur said as he looked at his notes for the classes he was going to have to teach next semester. It was nearly finals at the University he taught at and was determining what final touches to put in the test. He never let anything out and never printed them off until the early morning the day of. He knew very well what students would do so they didn’t have to properly study. “Francis has been feeling quite sentimental since he learned he was going to be a grandfather and wanted to do something along those lines. “

“I though Papa would be freaking out at the prospect of getting old. Like him being a grandpa would be a final nail in that ‘I’m not old’ freak out coffin.” Alfred laughed.

“Well I would have thought so too, but as long as I have been with him, Francis still is full of surprises.” Arthur said sentimentally. Alfred laughed at this. “And just what is so funny young man?” He yelled, turning from sentimental to stern in the matter of seconds. “Now back to something I want to ask you that you were seeking my council on. When am I going to get a grandchild from YOU?”

“Ummmm you see Dad, that to make a baby you need a sperm cell and an egg cell and then the fetus needs to grow for 9 months in a womb, which Ivan and I obviously lack….” Alfred said teasing his father.

“You know bloody well what I mean! You think you and Matthew just were birthed from Francis?” Arthur said getting annoyed at his son’s smart alecky attitude. It never failed, no matter how old Alfred had gotten he would always taunt Arthur like that. 

“Why do you think Francis would be the one carrying a child anyway?” Alfred asked.

“I don’t know; he seems more like to anyway….” Arthur said. “Anyway you did call a few weeks ago about thinking about adopting. I was not feeling my best when you called, you never call that early usually anyway.” He said as Alfred rolled his eyes. “I will tell you that I was apprehensive of my ability to be a father. I knew it would be hard work to even get you two.”

“But just what motivated you two to do so?” Alfred asked. 

“Why do you want to?” Arthur countered.

“I can’t quite explain it. I mean the house is big and we are comfortable but I just like the idea. I mean taking care of someone who needs it and just raising a child to have a good home and loving parents and all that.” Alfred could tell Arthur was silent. “I told you I couldn’t explain it!”

“No, no, I felt much the same. And I was worried we’d mess you boys up. From what I can see, we didn’t do too bad.” Alfred giggled. “Snigger all you like Alfred but I am right. You both have good educations and found love in good people. None of you are in trouble with the law. Sure, Matthew is facing some hard times, but I don’t count that as none of it is his fault. Things like this happen in the business world. You stepped up and helped him when he needed it the most. If you want what I would do, I would say if you feel in your heart, you can love a child and Ivan too and that you both could be the good examples they need, then go for it. From what I can see Ivan is a very family oriented kind of guy. Just how protective he was of Katyusha and how he tolerates Natalya, if he didn’t worry about family, by god. I know how it was with your uncle Alistair.” Arthur said. “All in all, making the decision to have a child is never easy and you are going to be scared. I would be worried if you weren’t and I can tell when you are scared Alfred, you tend to get really cocky or panicky. Or both.” Arthur said as Alfred rolled his eyes. “And you just rolled your eyes at me, didn’t you?”

“How did you know?” 

“I am your father.” Arthur smirked. “Now when Ivan gets in tell him and Matthew that we would like to have Christmas here and if there are no objections, let me know so I can plan. Natalya won’t be coming will she?”

“Thank God no. She’s going to Lithuania with her boy toy.” Alfred said. 

“Just what did you call Natalya’s boyfriend?” Ivan said as he opened the door to the bedroom.

“Talk later Dad. Got to go!” Alfred said hanging up. 

“Did you just call Toris a ‘boy toy’?” Ivan asked. 

“I’m sorry if I offended you but god….” Alfred said.

“I understand you don’t like Natalya. She doesn’t like you either and well, lets me know. All the time. It does get tiresome.” Ivan said. Alfred’s heart rate slowed down. Ivan wasn’t going to be mad at him for saying that and understood how frustrating she could be sometimes. “Who were you talking to?” 

“Dad.” Alfred said. “Papa wants to host Christmas this year.”

“Let him.” Ivan said laying back on the bed. “Let them deal with that hassle.”

“You sound exhausted.” Alfred teased. “You were shopping with Mattie. Katy is very forceful when she wants to be.”

“Meh there was a lot of people. And frankly, if there weren’t things that needed fitting, I would have just ordered it all online. I don’t know what it is, but people get crazy this time of year. At least I didn’t have to fight anyone or get sprayed in the perfume department. Although what they would call perfume where we went would smell worse….”

“Huh?” Alfred asked.

“Stopped by the sporting goods store. So if they were testing deer hunting scents….”

“Gross….” Alfred said. ” But we should ask Mattie and Katy if they are okay with going to Dad’s for Christmas.”

“As long as your papa does the cooking.” Ivan said.

“Obviously. According to Dad it was his idea in the first place.” Alfred laughed.

Ivan smiled. If there was one thing he did like, it was Alfred’s laugh. So cheerful and boisterous. His family life growing up was rather quiet and stressful once his great uncle died. Katyusha was busy working and Natalya had kept to herself a lot and did not want to talk to many people. Seeing what he thought was a chance to have an afternoon alone with his husband, Ivan startled Alfred and kissed him deeply. “I missed you today my love.”

“Me too.” Alfred said staring into Ivan’s amethyst eyes, pulling him closer to kiss him back when the door opened behind him.

“Oh sorry!” Matthew said as he placed a bag down. “I think something you got ended up mixed up with stuff I picked out.” Alfred looked at his brother with a blank but confused stare while Ivan looked over at Matthew with a deadly ferocious glare. “Bad time?”

“Very.” Ivan said simply. “Now. Get. Out.” He said pointing out the door, causing Matthew to back out slowly and shut the door behind him. He then looked on at Alfred with lust in his eyes. “We could tell them later what your father asked, da?” 

“Yes.” Alfred said.

Note to self, knock before entering any room in this place…. did not need to see that and they were still dressed…. Matthew thought as he walked down the stairs into the living room where Katyusha was placing a few boxes under the tree. He smiled when he saw her and then sat on the chair beside her looking at the gifts. “Did you hear from Fredka what your parent’s Christmas plans were?”

“No, I did learn I should knock on all doors that are closed before I open them.” Matthew said starting off into the space behind the tree. Katyusha giggled. “Just what is so funny.”

“So you caught Vanya and Fredka in the throes of passion?” She laughed.

“Just as they were getting started.” Matthew said. “They were still fully clothed at that point.” Katyusha kept giggling. “Come on, you’re supposed to be an adult.”

“Says the man who forgot to knock.” Katyusha sighed. “Like I said, be thankful you caught them there. It could have been further.” Matthew’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”

“Al and I have caught Papa and Dad in as you said, ‘in the throes of passion’ That far along. It’s not a pleasant sight.” Katyusha said. “But I will go with you instead of Fredka for your screen test. I want to wish my future anchor the best of luck. I have faith in you.” 

“That’s good.” Matthew smiled. At this his phone rang. “Why does everyone interrupt me?” Katyusha laughed as he answered it. “Yes?” He rolled his eyes.

“Oh Mathieu, why do you address your dearest papa like that, mon fils?” Francis said. “Arthur just called your brother on if you wanted to come here for Christmas and I figured I would reach out to you directly.”

“Well all I got from Al and Ivan was yelling at when I put some of Ivan’s shopping in his bedroom.” Matthew said as he tapped Katyusha on the shoulder as she started to giggle like a preteen schoolgirl. 

“From Madme Katyusha’s giggle you walked in on your brother and his husband in a very tender moment.” Francis said. “Did you not learn from our ‘always knock’ discussions we had with you two as children?” 

“Guess not, I also did not know the ummmmmm libido those two can have either,” Matthew said. “Ivan hadn’t been home long.”

“Well we are not here to discuss your carelessness nor your brother’s sex life.” Francis said. Thank god Matthew thought as he went on. “I was calling to invite you to Christmas. Your dad does not have an issue with Ivan and Katyusha but he doesn’t want Natalya to come either. No offense if Madame Katyusha is listening.”

“None taken. She won’t be in country anyway.” Katyusha replied. 

“Oh?” Francis said. 

“No, according to Fredka she’s going to Lithuania with her boyfriend, he was at Thanksgiving.” Katyusha explained.

“Well that solves that issue.” Francis said. “Well Mathieu when your brother is free, ask him what he and his husband would like to do and call me back. Good luck on your screen test Monday.”

“How did you know?” Matthew asked.

“Gilbert told me. We are friends after all.” Francis said innocently. “Bonne chance.”

“Thanks Papa.” Matthew said as he hung up. 

That Monday morning, Matthew got ready in the outfit Katyusha had picked out the night before and sat down sipping the coffee Alfred had made nervously. He had a project to finish up soon so he didn’t offer to take Matthew, but had already brewed a pot of coffee that by the time Matthew had gotten to it, was three quarters empty. He really drinks this stuff down. Matthew thought as Katyusha headed over to him with some toast and jam. “Yes, your brother drank most of it already. Said he had something due soon so he needed it bad.” Matthew rolled his eyes Typical Al He thought as Katyusha started fixing Matthew’s tie. “But I did manage to talk him into not taking the whole pot nor drinking straight from it.” Matthew looked at his cup slightly concerned. “I caught him before he started. So no, your brother’s germs are not in it.” She smiled as Matthew took a drink of the coffee and nibbled on the toast. “Do you want something more?”

“Nah. Maybe after. I am too nervous to eat much.” Matthew said. 

“Well you are eating something. I guess that is fair.” Katyusha said as she looked at the clock and noticed it was 9:30. “Oh! We must get going! I have the directions written down but early is best.” Matthew took a quick sip of his coffee and finished the piece of toast and followed Katyusha to the car who drove him to the station with plenty of time to spare. They sat in the waiting room, looking around, waiting for Gilbert to call Matthew back for his screen test. Katyusha noticed Matthew hold his hands on his knees shaking. Katyusha placed her hands on his and kissed him on the cheek. “You will do fine. More than fine.”

“How do you know?” Matthew asked.

“I know you. Heck at our wedding if Fredka hadn’t informed me of how nervous you were beforehand during the reception; I would have never have knowing. Love must have sedated your nerves. Stop thinking on the negative ‘what ifs’ and just be yourself. Besides, it’s like Fredka said. You two are twins and while he has a high opinion of his looks, I say I married the better looking of you two.” She said knowing how he often put down his looks.”

“Ah, how sweet. This must be the lovely Katyusha that you and Francis spoke of.” Gilbert said bowing. “Charmed my lady. Let me just say your husband is one of my favorite applicants here.”

“Why thank you Mr. Beilschmidt.” She said. “Please do not treat my darling Matvey any differently.”

“Rest assured I am not.” Gilbert said. “Now, if you please Mr. Williams? We have just a few things I want you to read over as if you were reporting them. One is a typical news story, nothing really bad, nothing really good, that kind of thing. Then you will report a bad breaking news story, a weather warning and finally a human interest story about cute puppies in a shelter. You’re not really on TV and these are all stories that aren’t real but modeled after the typical ones we see here. So no worries, Ja?” Matthew nodded. He was still worried but knowing what to expect he took a deep breath and looked over at the director. He motioned to begin and Matthew did as he was told by Gilbert. 

Gilbert sat back and noted just how Matthew looked for the various segments. Placing his fingers in a pyramid shape, he stared at the screen. He had a good feeling on Matthew and these recordings were going to prove it. He had wanted to hire him and was going to do so. Maybe as the guy who wrote the stories but he was determined to have him on the team. He was the station manager so he selected who was on his team who made his station run. He had to compete against so much these days and something told him that Matthew would bring in more ratings. “He seemed good with the regular news. Not quite strong enough for the bad news report. A warming stern on the weather warning and seemed really happy on the human interest story. He had the look of a charming young man that was not too arrogant like his brother was. This was a trusting sweet face that conveyed that and the voice was soothing. All in all, it was a good fit for the team. One of the biggest complaints he had against Ludwig was that you couldn’t differentiate the tone of the story. He had to cover an adoption drive at the local animal shelter and while he knew Ludwig loved dogs, had 3 himself all rescues in one form or another. His German Shepherd was not accepted into canine police training for being too nice. But because he was so stern, the drive did not work as well as the shelter hoped. Matthew however seemed that he would not have that same effect. The recording light stopped and with that Gilbert knew just who he was going to pick as a new junior anchor. He had fought the upper management before and won and he would do it again. Walking out of the booth, he headed to Matthew and shook his hand. 

“I liked your style there kid.” Gilbert said. “In fact between you and me the rest of the tests will be for HR humoring. I will tell them my pick tomorrow and call you when I want you to come in and fill out the paperwork. You won’t be on the air until the new year, start fresh then and all. But I liked your style. Go have a beautiful evening with your wife.”

“Thank you Mr. Beilschmidt….” Matthew said stunned. He headed out to the reception area where Katyusha was sipping a cup of water, her face fell seeing Matthew’s look.

“Mrs. Williams!” Gilbert said. “Come the new year, you will be married to this stations’ brand new junior anchor.”

“You aren’t joking with us, are you Mr. Beilschmidt?” Katyusha asked nervously.

“I would not be so mean. I will call him in to do the HR paperwork in a few days and boom, he’s got a job.” Gilbert said as he thumped Matthew on the back.

With this Katyusha squealed and hugged Matthew tight. He slowly cracked a smile as what Gilbert said sunk in. “I have a job. I have a job and we can get a house soon and have our own place and the baby won’t have to share with Al and Ivan. God knows it’s bad enough when I’ve walked in on them starting to get down.” 

“I love you so much Matvey.” Katyusha said. “You just needed to believe in yourself. “And at the end of this week, we’ll find out if you have a little baby girl or boy.” She said placing her hand on her abdomen. 

“I’m going to love to see the look on Al’s face when I tell him I got the job.” He said as he pumped his arm in triumph. 

“He’s sure to be proud.” Katyusha said.

“And jealous.” Matthew added with a smirk kissing her. 

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Thank you guys so much for your response on this fic! It makes me feel so good to see you guys liking it so. But anyway remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

realm.


	14. Chapter 14

If you don’t know I don’t own Hetalia from the past 13 chapters’ worth of disclaimers, I don’t know what to tell you. I want to thank all who fave, follow and read this story. It really means a lot to me. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

“I didn’t think that would happen....” Matthew said as Katyusha drove them home from the pancake house he had chosen to eat at as a celebration of the new job. 

“I did. I had complete faith in you. Just how to tell Vanya and Matvey.” Katyusha pondered.

“We don’t.” Matthew said.

“Well they need to know and I think they would get suspicious after a while.” Katyusha said in her stern, scary way. 

“Honestly I would love for Al to turn on the news and see my face, but he said himself he hardly watches it. Does Ivan watch it much?” Matthew said, knowing that if Ivan saw Matthew, he’d bring Al over.

“No. Much for the same reason Fredka does not. He will every now and again but he doesn’t make it his priority to do so.” Katyusha said. “What about your parents?”

“Dad does, Papa says it is too depressing.” Matthew mused. 

“Well it is rather depressing but with you on the screen, I can overlook that.” Katyusha said. “And later this week, we will know if this little dytyna is a boy or a girl. That will be something to tell everyone over Christmas, will it not.”

“That’s it!” Matthew said sitting up. “Christmas!”

“What are you meaning my love?” She asked.

“We tell them all at once, at Christmas! I know Dad and Papa would love getting that as a gift and I mean everyone would be in the same place at once.”

“Except for Natalya.” Katyusha said.

“Natalya....” Matthew said. “Can she be trusted to keep a secret?” 

“Sure.” Katyusha shrugged. “I mean she knew we were dating before Vanya and Fredka and she never told them.”

“You said she’s spending Christmas in Lithuania with her boyfriend right?” Katyusha nodded. “Well, we tell her before she leaves. I know Ivan mentioned wanting to see her off, and he’d take Al with him. He’s got a surprise trip to a ski resort planned for him over last week of the month and into the New Year in time for Epiphany, when they’ll have Natalya over for that.” Katyusha looked at Matthew curiously. “He told me while shopping for Al the other day.” With this she nodded in understanding. 

Matthew went through the week with an excited feeling, knowing that come the start of the new year he wasn’t going to be in the funk he was due to unemployment and the excitement that came from knowing what his unborn child was going to be. And he wouldn’t tell anyone this, but he was secretly proud of this job as he was going to be more well-known than Alfred was. Nobody talked about seeing the overly energetic engineer at the store. They did get really excited when the guy they saw on the news, even if it was just the local area. It was the breakthrough he had fought for all his life, to be seen on his own and not mistaken for his brother. Now they will all think you are me Al instead of the other way around. Matthew thought as he lay back on the chair. 

“So bro?” Alfred said looking over the chair into his brother’s face. “How’d it go?”

“Oh I have to go back in a few days. Some HR procedures for the job or something....” Matthew said. Not telling him what is really going on.... He smirked internally

“Sucks they’re jerking you around like that. Maybe you should try applying at the middle school or something. Looking for a few English teachers there.” Alfred suggested, taking what Matthew said as he didn’t get the job just yet. 

“Maybe.” Matthew said as he closed his eyes. “But I’ll let you guys know what is going on on Christmas, you’re going to the one Papa and Dad are having?” 

“Of course. With Natalya going to Lithuania, I was able to talk Ivan into doing that. Thank god.” Alfred shuddered. “I hope whatever you tell us is good news. I don’t want a scene like on Thanksgiving.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll see to it it isn’t” Matthew said as he grabbed a pillow, shoved Alfred away with it and then placed it on his face. “Now let me nap. Hopefully you can work pantless in your own living room soon.”

“How did you know that?” Alfred asked as he paused in shock.

“You’re my brother. I know you.” Matthew said as he threw another pillow at Alfred. “Now let me get a nap!” 

“Fine!” Alfred said walking away.

A few days later, Matthew was sitting beside Katyusha in the doctor’s office as she held a tissue in her hands nervously. He placed his hand on her knee to show that he was there for her. He felt like there was nothing to worry about, but she was a bit of a crybaby and was nervous on many things when it came to this pregnancy. He was feeling more confident himself, knowing that he could provide the support that he, his wife and his child would need. As he smiled at Katyusha, a nurse came out and called, “Williams, Kat-eee-shoe-yeah?”

“Kat-too-sha” Matthew corrected. He was proud of her and his forming family and didn’t like when people mispronounced the name. Katyusha blushed as the nurse blinked

“Yes, Mrs. Williams I can see this is your husband, we’ll get started here shortly.” She said leading the pair back to the ultrasound room after checking Katyusha’s vitals and her blood pressure. This was the appointment where they were going to tell them what they were going to have. Katyusha just wanted the baby to be healthy and didn’t mind if it was a boy or a girl, but having had a brother, an obnoxious brother on top of that, he wanted a change of pace and a little girl. The doctor came in and looked at them.

“Okay, so your vitals are all looking good and where they should be for this point in the pregnancy Mrs. Williams.” Katyusha smiled at that, she did love being addressed in a formal manner. “So we will start the ultrasound and we’ll see if you are having a boy or a girl. As the doctor performed the scan, they stared on with anticipation. He smiled and turned to the two. “And congrats, you’re going to have a baby girl in the spring.” He then printed out the copies of the ultrasound and handed it to them. After all was finished with the appointment and the only change that Katyusha could report was her morning sickness lessoning, which was to be expected. 

They headed home, knowing that tomorrow, they were going to see Natalya and Toris off at the airport. Matthew drove while Katyusha looked at the picture with a smile. This was her little girl growing inside of her. This was what everyone had wanted to know since they were told about the baby. “So I had an idea of how to tell this to everyone….” Matthew began as they sat a red light, waiting for it to change.

“You did?” She asked.

“We make a few copies of this, frame it up cute and give one set to Dad and Papa and one to Al and Ivan. Want to surprise them all with this stuff.” Matthew said as the light changed.

“I like that.” Katyusha said. “Save it for last, after the gift exchange. Total surprise.” 

“And we’ll tell Natalya at the airport.” Matthew said. “Not like she is going to tell Alfred anything, I doubt she’d tell Ivan if asked not to. I mean she didn’t when we were going out.” Katyusha nodded as they headed back to the house to find Ivan in the living room, watching the local news. 

“Oh, Matvey, Big sister! How was the appointment?” He asked.

“Went well.” Katyusha said simply. She smiled knowing how excited everyone was going to be when they finally learned what they knew. “We are seeing Natalya off tomorrow?”

“Da” Ivan nodded. “I’m watching for the weather report to make sure there will be no delays. It is certain to be a long and tiresome flight. I do think she told me it was estimated at 18 hours.” Katyusha nodded. “She claims it will be no issue, but I do worry about her. She is our baby sister after all.”

The next morning, Ivan drove to pick up Natalya and Toris from the college and then take them to the airport. On the way Alfred was ranting about having to do so, but Ivan just let him so it would get out of his system before they picked her up and a fight broke out. If there was one thing, he had learned was that there were times where Alfred was just a teapot and it is better to listen to his ranting and raving than let it fester too much and become a real issue. Alfred was friendly with Toris, but Natalya, sensing that her brother was not in a mood to deal with a fight just kept conversation mainly on her schooling, how finals went and the weather. “So, your parents bought the tickets for you and Nattie there huh?” Alfred asked as Natalya gave a huff. She did not like Alfred calling her ‘Nattie’

“Yes Mr.- “Toris began before Alfred cut him off.

“You can just call me Alfred, no need to be so formal dude.” Alfred laughed.

“Yes Mr. Alfred sir.” Toris nodded. “My parents did indeed buy me the tickets for the both of us. I had told them so much about Natalya and they seemed excited to meet her.”

“Awwwwww isn’t that precious Natalya?” Katyusha said hugging her baby sister while Toris and Alfred carried their bags into the airport once they had parked. 

“They charge a lot to just use the parking garage for a few hours don’t they?” Alfred sighed as he carried Toris’s bag for him. Toris had taken Natalya’s to show gentleman curtesy. 

“Seems to be so Mr. Alfred sir.” Toris said as they entered the baggage check area. 

“So where do you go?” Ivan asked. 

“There seems to be our airline.” Toris pointed as the rest followed. “I will take yours for you if you don’t mind mielasis” He said as he kissed Natalya on the cheek.

“What did he just call you?” Ivan asked sternly. He could tell Toris was more comfortable around Alfred than him and was rather intimidated by him the most. 

Natalya blushed, “’Sweetheart’ in Lithuanian….”

“Awwww isn’t that darling?” Katyusha said as she pulled in her sister and hugged her, causing her to grow redder.

“You had something you wanted to tell me?” Natalya said as she whispered into her older sister’s ear. “You said it was something you did not want Big Brother or Alfred to hear.”

“Oh.” Katyusha motioned Matthew over as Alfred placed Toris’s bag down, wiping his brow and tripping over the suitcase. “We have some news we planned to tell Vanya and Fredka and Matvey’s parents at Christmas, but since you will be on the other side of the Atlantic, we’ll tell you now.”

“Which is?” Natalya said as she looked over at Toris who was handing the bags to the clerk at the check stand. 

“Well, I got a job finally.” Matthew said.

“What at?” Natalya said looking at her brother in law critically. “It had better be one that can support a wife and child.”

Knowing that he shouldn’t rise to her comment, he swallowed and said “I am a new anchor for the local news station.” Matthew added with a strained smile.

“Well. Alfred will seem to be envious of you when he finds out. That man has always seemed to be an attention whore.” Natalya said.

“Now now sister, I wouldn’t say it that coldly. I mean yes, Fredka does desire to be the center of attention many times but I wouldn’t say that.” Katyusha said, wanting to keep the family drama down. She wasn’t going to be seeing her little sister till the new year and to have Alfred hear what Natalya said was sure to get him mad, despite the effort he was putting in for Ivan’s sake. 

“Well to each their own.” Natalya said. “What is the other news?”

“We’re expecting a girl.” Katyusha smiled and squealed loudly, causing Ivan to look back, but he assumed it was another passenger’s shoes or bags on the linoleum floor. 

“Well I think you will be a good mother.” Natalya said as she motioned to Matthew as to ask what she thought of Matthew’s potential fatherhood skills. “I guess Matthew would be an acceptable father.” He looked dejected at this. 

“That’s about as good as you are going to get. I would hate to see her reaction if she heard that Vanya and Fredka are just talking about adopting.” Katyusha said.

“Yeah. That would not be pretty.” Matthew said as they headed over to where Ivan, Alfred and Toris were talking. From what they could tell, Ivan had made it perfectly clear that he expected Toris to take good care of Natalya and to not touch her or even look at her or speak to her in an unbecoming manner.

“Do not worry Mr. Braginsky-Jones,” Toris whimpered, “Natalya’s honor and virtue shall remain intact and I will ask nothing of her she does not ask of me.”

“If she asks it of you, be a gentleman and refuse.” Ivan scowled.

“Please big brother.” Natalya said as she took the check bag receipt for her suitcase from Toris and put it in her pocket. “I do appreciate the concern but I am a grown woman and if I find Toris is worthy of me, he is worthy.”

Alfred quickly rolled his eyes at Natalya’s attitude and had a feeling that just maybe they had gone further than Ivan would have liked her to. They were going to have to say their goodbyes at the security gate. But this also told Alfred that if it ever came to it, and they did adopt, Ivan would be the most protective father figure that Alfred could ask for a child. He would remember this example when he tried the argument for adopting again. Ivan had the heart, if he could deal with his sister this way, but it was mainly fear that was holding him back. In some of his down time, Alfred had looked up adoption requirements and agencies but never really went much further on the issue. It would be a big change that would happen and it wasn’t something he was going to go ‘surprise’ on. It would be a child that would be theirs, not some rescue dog. A “Have a safe trip baby sister” from Ivan brought Alfred back to his attention who waved at Toris and Natalya as they stood in line for security. 

“You must let us know when you make it in alright! I do not care if it is at an unreasonable hour here.” Katyusha said.

“Yes.” Ivan said.

“You sure?” Toris asked.

“Yes.” Katyusha replied as Ivan nodded. 

“Even you Mr. Alfred sir?” Toris said.

“Hey, Nattie is important to Ivan, so her safety is important to me as well. So if it is like 3 in the morning here when you guys get in, feel free to send a text or even call.” Alfred smiled wanting to be cordial for Ivan’s sake.

“Who knows, I may catch you two in a very compromising position when I call.” Natalya said. “You two fuck like rabbits.”

“NATALYA!” Ivan and Alfred yelled in embarrassment. Ivan quickly recovered. “That is not quite an appropriate topic in public.”

“Whatever.” Natalya said. “I will stay safe.”

“linksmų Kalėdų” Toris added as he took Natalya’s hand and guided her through security. 

“That was Merry Christmas in Lithuanian.” Natalya said at the look on Alfred’s face who returned it with his forced kindness. 

“Merry Christmas.” Alfred waved and then turned to Ivan, Katyusha and Matthew and headed back to the car. That was stressful. One relative holiday event down, another to go. Ivan and Katyusha had thought it would be a good idea to head to his and Matthew’s fathers’ house for Christmas, especially when Matthew said how much Francis was begging for it. Ivan had hoped that he would not be cornered about the offers he made to help try and get him to talk Gilbert into hiring Matthew, which had happened without Francis saying much of anything to his friend; Gilbert had liked Matthew all on his own. But there was always a chance that they would fight and cause chaos. Something Ivan had wanted to avoid on Christmas.

Meanwhile, Francis was hurriedly going around the house, turning Alfred and Matthew’s old bedrooms, which had been made into guest bedrooms over the years from the fact that often when Arthur or Francis did not want to open the attic or put something away they thought they would need later. 

“Seriously Frog, you don’t need to worry so much. You know the boys won’t be so judgmental.” Arthur sighed.

“But their spouses might be.” Francis said.

“Katyusha is so kind hearted and would put up with anything.” Arthur sighed. “And Ivan married Alfred, so goodness knows how tolerant he is of things.”

“Are you so lassie faire on your housekeeping with your sons you would leave their rooms a mess on day like Christmas? And Mathieu’s wife in the delicate state she is in?” Francis said.

“Calm down. The house is impeccable. Spotless.” Arthur said as he headed to the wine cabinet and poured a glass of wine for his husband. “Christmas is 3 days away anyway. The kids won’t be showing up until Christmas Eve. This isn’t Alfred planning a ‘good old fashioned family Christmas’ after all.” 

“I cannot believe you quoted Clark Griswold from that old Christmas Vacation movie.” Francis sighed as he took a sip of the wine. “Sparkling and white?” He asked tapping his foot. “Just where is this from?”

“Kent….” Arthur started to reply.

“Please finish that with –ucky. Meaning it is an American wine you had grabbed from the shelf and not Kent England knowing you wish to spite me after we had been married for oh so long.” Francis sighed.

“You know which one I mean.” Arthur teased.

“Mon dieu……” Francis sighed. “I love you you limey bastard.”

“And I love you Frog.” Arthur sighed. “Why I married you, I will never know but all I do know is I can’t wait to see the boys again.”

“Oui.” Francis said sipping the wine Arthur gave him anyway.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. And yeah I could see that if Alfred did host a Christmas, it would end up a lot like the old movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you do. It is hilarious and a great movie considering it is now 3 days from Christmas. I don’t have much else to say honestly with this chapter. So remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,


	15. Chapter 15

I do not own Hetalia okay? I wanted this chapter to be up yesterday as it is a Christmas one but the day after is good. I don’t have much else to say here, so enough of the A/N, on with the fic!

Christmas eve, Alfred and Matthew looked at the ceiling of their old bedrooms, with their spouses by their side. It was a few years since they had been last here. Finally, sleep came over them each as the hours passed and it officially became Christmas day. As the sun started to peek through the windows, a rap was heard at the door. “Boys, up and at them. Your papa wants to open the gifts right away. Seemed really excited after Matthew told him there was surprise for us under the tree. So do hurry. I know how much you sleep in Alfred.”

“Shuddddupppp......”Alfred said as he pulled the pillow from under Ivan’s head, causing him to fall down and awake to the sight of the pillow being thrown across the room and at the closed door.”

“Chto?” Ivan said as he saw Alfred stare at the door. 

“Dad. Waking me up.” Alfred moaned as he placed his pillow on his face, which Ivan took off and threw on the floor. “What was that for?”

“Fair is fair. But we should get up after all. Your fathers begged for us to come and we should respect it as so.” Ivan said rubbing his eyes sitting up. “And we must contact Natalya today sometime before it gets too late.” 

“Yeah they’re what, 7 hours ahead of us?” Alfred said as he began to change his clothes. Ivan nodded. He looked at the clock that read 8 am. “So it’s like what, 3 something in the afternoon?” 

“Should be. I’ll talk to Katyusha and we can call her about noon. Is that alright love?” Ivan asked.

“Sure, sure.” Alfred said as he fell back on the bed putting his socks on. He had recalled when Natalya called when they had gotten in. Her flight that day had left at about 3 in the afternoon, and went without incident. And while not at a totally unreasonable hour, it was 7 the next morning she had called and woke Ivan and Alfred up. Alfred being the one to pick it up, was on the brunt end of a jet lagged Natalya. That was a pleasant wake up call. He thought as the memory of the call came into his mind. “Oh it’s you, put big brother on the line!” She demanded as Alfred had placed his pillow in Ivan’s face that day to wake him up and handed his cell phone to him.

“Just what was that for Fredka?” He asked annoyed.

“Natalya.” Alfred replied simply before going back to sleep. But now it was Christmas and it had seemed that Ivan had finished getting ready before him and headed to the living room.

Matthew and Katyusha did not have such a chaotic morning but had a surprising wake up themselves. Francis had nudged Katyusha gently after walking into Matthew’s old childhood bedroom and then looked over Matthew, staring until his son’s purplish blue eyes opened and found his Frenchman father staring back at him. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Matthew yelled jumping up, head contacting Francis’ nose and giving him a nosebleed.

“Sacre bleu!” Francis yelled as he pulled a tissue out of his pocket and pinched his nose back to stop the bleeding. This caused Katyusha to wake in shock and worry.

“Bozhe miy! Shcho tse? Shcho vidbuvayetʹsya? Ty bolyache miy kokhanyy? Nalyakanyy?” Katyusha said in a panic looking from Matthew to Francis and looking at them worried. “you are not hurt Matvey are you? Is something wrong Papa Francis?” She said looking at Francis as he nodded. 

“No, no, nothing wrong. Just did not think I would scare Mathieu so much when I woke him up. I mean your father does want to open the gifts early and it is only 8 in the morning so not that bad but....”

“You stared into my soul. This is Christmas not Halloween! I’d expect that kind of thing from Alfred, not you Papa!” Matthew exclaimed as he put his glasses on. 

“Please do hurry though.” Francis said, satisfied he had stopped the nosebleed. “I am sure your father woke your brother up already and he and Ivan are awaiting you for the opening of the gifts.” 

“And if we hurry, the sooner they will open the gifts we had been saving for them.” Katyusha said as Matthew nodded at their plan to tell Arthur and Francis of their unborn granddaughter and Ivan and Alfred of their niece. With this, they quickly headed downstairs to where Ivan was nursing a cup of tea and Alfred chugging a cup of coffee while Arthur was lecturing Francis about how he woke Matthew up was stupid and he deserved the nosebleed while placing an ice pack on his husband’s nose. 

“Thank you lapin” Francis said as he moved the bag around. “Well, better late than never you two.”

“Sorry for making you wait.” Katyusha said.

“No issue.” Alfred said as he gave a smile to her. “Now, where to get started, who and just what!” He said looking at the presents as if he was a kid again.”

“Now now Fredka, calm down.” Ivan said as he pulled a box from under the tree.

“Whatdya get me?” he asked as he tore at the ribbon to find there was a new thick jacket.

“Well you see while yours is working fine, I thought you could use a new one. A sportier one.” Ivan said. 

“Cool.” Alfred said as Matthew and Katyusha laughed at the fact they knew Ivan’s final intent. 

Matthew then picked up a gift from Alfred and rolled his eyes at him. “Seriously bro?” Matthew asked. “Dad joke tshirts and a Wayne Gretzky fangirl calender?” As Alfred rolled over laughing, he showed the shirt to Francis and Arthur. Francis laughed at the shirt that said ‘DILF’ on it and Arthur rolled his eyes. 

“While you do have an obsession with Wayne Gretzky so I can get the joke behind the calender there,” Arthur began “That shirt is highly inappropriate.”

“Mon amor, that is how brothers are. Remember Allistor?” Francis said.

“Yes.....”Arthur scowled. “And there is a reason he’s in Scotland now!”

“Yikes.” Alfred said. “Maybe you should act like an adult and I don’t know, talk to your brother again Dad?”

“You should not be lecturing me on proper brotherly behavior.” Arthur said as he blushed looking into a box Francis had given him. “And I should lecture you on what is appropriate in front of the children.”

Matthew and Alfred’s faces grew red. They had been through this argument many times growing up and knew that from that implication that Francis had gotten Arthur something for the bedroom. “Well our sons are grown and it is obvious they have partake in passionate love themselves.”

“ENOUGH! Dosytʹ tsiyeyi durnytsi” Katyusha said looking at Arthur and Francis. “Arthur, no need to bicker with your husband. Francis, that is something you two need to keep to yourselves.” She then, tired of that argument pulled out two presents, one labeled to Arthur and Francis, the other Alfred and Ivan. “Now you Matvey and I prepared these two for you especially. We think you will love them.” 

“Dang, Katy is going to be a good mother when the kid is born.” Alfred said as Ivan carefully tore at the paper. 

“I apologize for bickering in your presence.” Arthur said as he tore at the paper himself, looking at the picture in the frame.

“Je suis désolé d'agir ainsi.” Francis said as he looked at the picture. “Is this?”

“Yep. The ultrasound that told us you are going to have a new granddaughter this spring.” Matthew said. 

“Moya plemyannitsa” Ivan said as he looked at the framed ultrasound print out running his hand over the picture with Alfred looking over his shoulder staring at it to Matthew and Katyusha. He then looked to Ivan who cracked a little bit of a smile. This, the protective nature he had with Natalya, all this were things he was keeping in mind when he approached the topic of adoption in the new year. He wanted to give Ivan a break from that discussion over the holiday. Seeing how he was with that, Alfred got the idea that maybe, just maybe he may want to start the process soon. If Alfred had it his way, he’d start as soon as the new year began and maybe by this time next year, his parents would have two grandchildren instead of just one.

“Une petite-fille” Francis said.

“You said it Frog.” Arthur said. “It’s just an ultrasound but this is precious.”

“Yeah Katy and I decided this would be the best way to tell you guys. And on other good news. I got that job I was interviewed. Come January, I am the news station’s new junior anchor.”

“Congratulations.” Ivan said. “That should provide well for Katyusha and this little one.”

“Yeah. Finally you got a break. And you’ll be the one people are fawning all over!” Alfred smiled. 

Matthew smiled but was shocked. He thought Alfred would be jealous. But then again, the ramifications haven’t set in yet. It just sounds good to him. The jealousy he might feel won’t show up until a little while afterwards.... Francis then turned to Matthew and smiled. “I knew you had my charm Mathieu.”

“No, he has my eloquent way of speaking to an audience.” Arthur sighed as Katyusha placed her face in her hands.

“Are they always like this?” She asked turning to Alfred and Matthew.

“Yes.” They both replied simultaneously. 

“Actually they are putting in a good bit of effort to keep it down actually.” Alfred observed. 

“Growing up our Christmases were hardly quiet. I mean they were nice, don’t get me wrong, but we expected Dad and Papa to break into arguments like that. And god help you if one of us got hurt after playing with our new gift. Al tried to ride his bike down the stairs and I tried to ice skate and test some new hockey gear on that pond when it wasn’t think enough.” Matthew explained. Ivan rolled his eyes and Katyusha cast a glare at them. 

“Sorry Miss Katyusha for the disruption.” Arthur said as Francis nodded. “That is quite good to hear Matthew. Well done.”

“Well without Al, Ivan and your support obviously Katy, I don’t think I would have had the courage to go through with the whole thing. Oh and Papa, Gilbert says hello.”

“Well that’s good to hear. You’ll have to keep me filled in on what that man is getting into these days.” Francis said. “I must get the dinner started.” He said as he headed into the kitchen where Arthur followed him. 

“I need to get started on my scones too!”

“Your poor planning is not my emergency mon amor....” Francis said.

“Well, my last gift to you Fredka isn’t as impressive as a baby and new job, but I got us a trip away for the two of us to a ski and snowboard resort.” He added before Alfred could say he did not ski. “You’ve been such a good husband and I know you have been well frustrated with some things lately and the fact you have put up with my family like you have, especially Natalya. I well just....”

Alfred looked at the envelope with the brochure and he kissed Ivan “No need to come up with some grand explanation to justify yourself. You wanted a romantic week here. Fine.” He blinked with a smile. “And that makes sense for the gifts you got me.”

“Da.” Ivan nodded. “The reservation isn’t until the 27th and we will come back around the third. I had talked things over with Katyusha and Matvey and they said they would keep the house in good order while we are gone.”

“That’s good.” Alfred said.

“Now that we have all that settled, I must call Natalya. It may only be 10 in the morning here, but they are 7 hours ahead of us after all.” Ivan said.

“Mind if I join you Vanya? I want to make sure dytyncha is okay all that far away.” Katyusha said.

“Tell Nattie I said ‘yo’” Alfred said as he turned the television onto A Christmas Story and began to watch. 

“Ah I remember the year where you were pretty much Ralphie Al.” Matthew said beside his brother, watching the classic Christmas movie.

“Vy vystrelite sebe v glaz Fredka....” Ivan teased as he and Katyusha sat in the other side of the room, waiting for Natalya to pick up. Alfred stuck his tongue out at his husband and sulked. 

“You did shoot your eye out. Knowing how Dad and Papa are, I am surprised they even got you one for Christmas when you were 10.” Matthew said as Alfred tried to find another movie on.

“Well no need for that movie if that Christmas was pretty much a modern take on that. You think Die Hard is on at this hour?” Alfred sighed. “At least until Dad comes in wanting to watch some version of A Christmas Carol he’ll criticize.”

“Hey that thing where Marley’s jaw falls off is never adapted.” Matthew shrugged.

“I hate ghost stories....” Alfred said.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Lithuania, Natalya sat beside Toris as his father talked about just how proud he was of his son getting accepted for study in America and wanted to know more about just what Natalya was studying. While still rather traditional on his take on a woman’s role in the family, he still was very proud of his son’s choices in life and would back whatever decisions he made. Studying nuclear medicine to help cancer patients with radiation therapy was his biggest goal after his grandfather, a man who helped with the clean up after Chernobyl had exploded died from cancer from the exposure when he was a child and he had learned that the same power that had taken his life could have fought to save it. “So Miss Natalya,” Toris’s father began. “Just what are you studying? How did you meet my Toris?”

“I am working towards a MBA business degree” She said simply sipping some tea that was left out while Toris’s mother prepared the Christmas dinner. “I was told from a young age I was very cutthroat and that it could be applied to business well. I have also been discussing options with some of my professors who a few think I may want to consider law school as well for much the same reason. Some have said I can do both.” 

“Well, it’s great you are such a woman that can stand on your own. I have seen far too many who if something were to happen to their husbands, they would lose everything they had. I understand life in the United States often has both a husband and wife working to keep a simple home.” Toris’s father began. “But where did you meet little Toris?”

“I’m not little anymore Tėvas” Toris said.

“Toris, you could be 105 and I could still call you little.” 

“Well to answer your question Mr. Laurinaitis,” Natalya began “I was studying in the library for midterms and Toris asked me to the Student Union for lunch and I just went to get something to eat. Studying on an empty stomach is not very productive. He said he had admired me from afar for awhile and only then he had plucked up the courage to ask me. We are planning to make a trip to Moscow for a few days after the Christmas holiday.” 

“Oh? What makes you want to go there? I thought you were just another American girl, then I realized your accent.” Mr. Laurinaitis said.

“Oh I can see how you would assume that.” Natalya said. While Ivan and Katyusha had adapted into American life well in her opinion, Natalya had wanted to stay in touch more with their roots than just celebrating Epiphany with Christmas and small notions like that. “But no. My older sister and brother and I were sent to live with a family member in America after they fell into crisis during the post soviet years. I was real little, about 4 or 5 last time I had seen the nation of my birth. I do not want to forget.”

“Oh.” Mr. Laurinaitis nodded. “I understand that. It is important to never forget those things. Well if it is worth anything, I think you would be the strong figure Toris needs and he could take care of you well too Miss Natalya. Now let me check in with my wife on how dinner is doing.”

With this Toris moved closer to Natalya. Be a man. You asked her out and she agreed. She agreed to come here thousands of miles from her family back in America, ask. “Well Natalya, I did have something I wanted to ask of you.”

“I’m not thinking of marriage yet. This is panning out almost like the cliched take big brother did when he asked his husband to marry him.” Natalya said bluntly but saw Toris’s face fall. “But I would not mind making this a serious relationship and possibly moving in with you after graduation when we both have jobs in our respective fields.”

“Well that is another thing.” Toris said. “My student visa is sponsored by the hospital system here. Once I have the certification, they will want me to come back here. That was part of the reason that I asked you to come visit. See if this place is to your liking. I mean I could possibly get it to be part of Russia’s system if the two countries can agree to it. I mean motina ir tėvas like you and your grades are good enough you could continue your further studies in Moscow or something like that. So we’d be living here in Europe than back in America and you might not see your brother and sister as much. I do know how much you talked of your older brother at least. I swear you’re doing everything to impress him.”

Natalya paused. She assumed Toris was like every other student on a foreign visa in her college. Using it to get citizenship. That he would get a job in America like all the others. She did have it planned that she would fight for him to be paid as well as the American born workers with the same degree as she knew well of some of the low employment practices some business did with people in Toris’s position. And if he did have to marry to keep his visa if things went bad, she wasn’t totally opposed to it as she did love him. But that was not the case and she was going to wait for that. Yes she did want to reconnect more with her Russian roots but to leave her family, the two people of it she had left behind for it? It was a large step and decision and she didn’t know if she could do it. Frankly she just wanted to work in either the Russian department of an American company when she finished or the American department of a Russian company. Sure she hardly liked who her siblings married and wanted to stab Alfred sometimes but didn’t attack him because they both loved Ivan and kept their animosity to a minium around each other for his sake. But to leave her family behind like that? Although it’s the opposite of what you’d be asking Toris if he stayed back in America, he’d leave his family behind. I don’t know... She looked at Toris’s hopeful face. “Look, I would need to think it over more.” Toris’s face fell. “Do not take this as a rejection. But I would leave my brother and sister behind. I do not know if I could do that. I would have to do a lot of soul searching before I could agree to it. If it is any consolation I do love you. You are fun to be around, and it would be better if you were not so timid, but there is not much there I can do about that. You’re braver than you think.”

“How so?” Toris asked.

“You asked me out.” Natalya said.

“That is true.” Toris said. “Well take this.” He placed a ring in her hand. “It is like a ‘promise ring’ I have seen in American television shows when a couple isn’t ready for marriage but want to be serious. This means a lot as it did belong to my močiutė. I have the one that belonged to my   
senelis. I cannot really place it, but you mean a lot to me and I love you. I admire your beauty and determination.”

“I love you too Toris.” At this, her phone rang and she saw it was Ivan. “I must take this.” 

“Please do not take too long, motina is almost finished preparing dinner.” Toris said.

“I won’t” Natalya said. “Privet starshiy brat” She answered, looking at the ring Toris gave her. 

Translation Guide:

(Obtained via Google Translate)

Chto-Russian-What?

Bozhe miy! Shcho tse? Shcho vidbuvayetʹsya? Ty bolyache miy kokhanyy? Nalyakanyy?-Ukrainian- Oh my god! What is it? What's going on? Are you hurt my darling? Scared? 

dosytʹ tsiyeyi durnytsi- Ukrainian- enough of this nonsense

Je suis désolé d'agir ainsi.- French- I am sorry for acting like that

Moya plemyannitsa-Russian- my niece

Une petite-fille-French- A granddaughter

dytyncha-Ukrainian- baby sister

Vy vystrelite sebe v glaz- Russian- You’ll shoot your eye out.

Tėvas-Lithuanian-Father

Motina ir tėvas-Lithuanian- Mother and father

močiutė-Lithuanian-grandmother

senelis-Lithuanian-grandfather

Privet starshiy brat- Russian- Hello big brother. 

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I am working to get a lot of this done before January when tax season starts and my main job will keep me real busy. But hey, I should have all the free time in the world come May! I don’t have much else to say here, so remember to read (you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	16. Chapter 16

I do not own Hetalia okay? I would like to thank all of you who read, faved, reviewed and watch this fic. It’s really getting me through this and it’s being taken much better than I thought it would be. So anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

“Privet Natalya, how has your Christmas been?” Ivan asked as he looked over at Katyusha who was sitting on a chair nearby excitedly, wanting to speak to her baby sister. 

Natalya paused. It was certainly a very interesting one, one where Toris said he would be willing to move half way around the world with her and her dreams of working back in Russia were tempted sorely by this. But to tell her older brother all this, it might cause him to think that she was running away from him and somehow take it the wrong way. Like he might assume that she was doing this to spite him for marrying Alfred. True, she did not like his husband much, but she wouldn’t be so low and petty. Most she would allow was the arguments they had. As much as she hated Alfred, she loved Ivan more. “Oh it’s been real interesting.” Natalya began, Well it was, so you are not lying to him. “Toris’s father is a very friendly man.”

“Really?” Ivan asked as he saw Alfred and Matthew on the couch arguing over which Christmas movie to put in. Matthew had wanted to watch Christmas Vacation, while Alfred wanted Home Alone.

“At least Home Alone’s sequel didn’t go straight to video!” Alfred yelled.

“Oh come on,” Matthew sighed. “That’s not the only thing that matters. You just don’t like seeing yourself!”

“That movie came out in 1989!” Alfred moaned. 

“No, you just go like Clark Grizwald on holiday situations. If you held Christmas you’d be yelling ‘Hallelujah holy shit’ yourself!” Matthew said. “I got Tylenol if you need it. I do remember your Thanksgiving after all!”

“Well the only one causing trouble then would be Dad and Papa, like they always do!”

“Yes, he is.” Natalya said as she overheard the argument. “Well, you said that Alfred and Matthew were adopted so there is a point for the nurture argument. I swear that is like an argument their fathers would have.” 

“Well it’s still family friendly.” Ivan sighed as he rubbed his temple. “The things that Francis talks about casually….”

“He’s French. At least I am blessed that Toris’s family is rather well behaved. His father seems to really like me.” Natalya said.

“You’re a darling when you want to be baby sister.” Katyusha said. “I don’t see why Toris’s family wouldn’t like you.”

“Oh how did they take your news sister?” Natalya asked.

“You knew before they told us?” Ivan said shocked.

“Katyusha and Matthew told me before I left in case there was any issues with time or connection, things like that. I promised to keep it a secret as to not spoil the surprise for you and Matthew’s fathers.” Natalya said simply. 

“Seems fair.” Ivan sighed. “I like the idea that Matvey can provide and having a plemyannista sounds like fun. What do you think?”

“I can certainly glad it’s a girl. I can be a good role model for her on what a woman can achieve and just that we are strong.” Natalya said. 

“So how is Christmas over there? Different from what we are going to have?” Katyusha asked.

“Well Toris’s parents split the main events over yesterday and today. They are having the meal once the stars come out and nothing like back in America. Toris’s mother has been putting in a lot of work into having it to the local traditions.” She looked out the window and saw it getting darker. Looking at the ring in her hand, she wanted to talk about her feelings. “Can you give the phone to Katya please?”

“Why?” Ivan asked.

“Girl stuff you wouldn’t understand.” Natalya said rolling her eyes. Can I just talk to my older sister please? She thought as Ivan handed the phone to her.

“So what do you need baby sister?” Katyusha asked as she headed into a corner. She knew that from the tone she heard that Natalya wanted to only talk to her.

“Toris’s mother is almost finished with dinner and it’s getting dark so I will be quick. Toris is thinking of moving in with me when we graduate.” Natalya said.

“Well that isn’t until the spring so you’ll have a few months more to see if you would want to and you are already spending a few weeks with him now to see if you can stand the little things they do when at home.” Katyusha said.

“Yes but he wants to take his degree to Lithuania or Russia, he said he’d be okay with that if I got a job in Moscow or something. I had been thinking about that but not seriously. I also do not want to break his heart, especially now that you are expecting a girl.” Natalya confessed.

“He’s not demanding an answer right away.” Katyusha noted. “He does not want to do that until after graduation. So that means you have time to discuss what you feel. Wait until the new year to really get into this discussion but you will need to have it.” 

“What if he changes his mind about me?” Natalya asked.

“Is my oh so headstrong baby sister afraid of rejection?” Katyusha laughed as she heard Natalya growl on the other line. “Well it won’t be easy but you wouldn’t have been meant to be that way. Sometimes our life goals are different than what we think in the start of a relationship. It happens. But if you want to live your life in misery, never stand up for yourself.”

“That’s something to think about. Tell Vanya I said Merry Christmas. Do not tell him what we discussed. I don’t care what you say if he keeps asking but do not tell him that. Toris’s father is looking hungry and trying to get me to finish this call.”

“Your secrets are safe with me baby sister. Merry Christmas.”

“The same to you.” Natalya said as she hung up. As if that was much help at all. Natalya thought with frustration as she joined Toris and his family for their traditional dinner. She sat beside him and looked at the 12 dishes on the table. “Those potatoes look good Mrs. Laurinaitis. That is one of my favorite foods.”

“No need to flatter me.” Mrs. Laurinaitis said as Natalya took a big spoonful of the dish. 

“I do not do flattery in such a way.” Natalya said. “I find it a disservice to those you meet. Although I have found not everyone is receptive to my ways either.” She took a bite of the dish. “If you do not mind sharing, I would like the recipe of this. I would like to make it for the Epiphany celebration my brother and his husband will be having in January.”

“Certainly.” Mrs. Laurinaitis said with a smile on her face. “Toris my boy, you never had met anyone like her.”

“Well if you do get serious with her, remember this saying son, happy wife, happy life and you’re going to have quite a time of that.” Mr. Laurinaitis teased. “I don’t mean any offense to you Natalya.” He recovered at her look.

“I am focusing on my education before marriage sir.” She said. “Marriage is a partnership and if I want to be a strong partner, I need a strong career to be able to do so.”

“You have a point there Natalya.” Mrs. Laurinaitis said. “But don’t get so wrapped up in work you forget your family. They love you and are there no matter what. Although if you do not mind my motherly interjections, if you and Toris did have children, they would be so adorable.” At this both Natalya and Toris choked on their cider.

“It’s a little early to be thinking about that….” Natalya said red in the face. “Besides, my sister is expecting a child to be born a little bit before graduation and I was thinking of helping her and her husband while I look for work this summer. I do plan to further my education in the business world as well. Either that or look into a career in law.”

“Well Miss Natalya, I can tell you will be a good rational rock for Toris. But don’t let yourself get so wrapped up you forget your family, like my wife said.” Mr. Laurinaitis replied.

“I will be certain to keep that in mind.” Natalya said.

Ivan and Katyusha headed over the living room where both Alfred and Matthew were sulking. Arthur had taken the remote from them and indeed put in his favorite Christmas movie, A Christmas Carol, and by the looks of it, it was an older version. “This is the only one that Francis likes, claims it’s more artistic in black and white.”

“Couldn’t we have had the Muppet version?” Alfred said “Or that 1999 version with Patrick Stewart? You know Captain Piccard. The better one.” Alfred said looking over at Matthew.

“Come on, Kirk is the original one!”

“Boys!” Arthur said.

“You’re turning into your fathers.” Ivan said with a sigh as he kissed Alfred on the forehead. This caused Matthew and Alfred to stop bickering and eyes widen in shock, causing Katyusha to giggle. Picking up on this, Arthur looked around. 

“Just why would that be so bad boys?” Arthur said.

“Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh” Alfred and Matthew said, not wanting to upset Arthur. 

“Dinner will be ready in a few hours. The turkey has to finish baking and no, you cannot make your scones while the turkey is baking!” Francis said as he sat in Arthur’s lap in a manner much like Katyusha was doing with Matthew. “I see the boys couldn’t agree on a movie.” He added noting the choice of movie that was on television

“Papa……” Matthew moaned in embarrassment.

“What? Are you not used to seeing this? I mean your own wife is doing the same, so full of love you two.” Francis teased.

“I have never gotten used to it.” Alfred moaned. “You guys are older than dirt but act like you’re newlyweds on the verge of divorce for as long as I have known.”

“You’ll be this old one day and you’ll want for this.” Arthur said to quiet his sons up. 

The evening passed and as the new day began, they packed up the gifts and headed back home, leaving a sobbing Arthur as Francis waved to them. It was going to be a busy day for Alfred and Ivan so they were ready for the reservation that they would leave for the next day. It was only a few hours drive to the resort, so they didn’t have to leave too early but Ivan had wanted to get there with plenty of time to settle in. This was a break from the craziness of work and the holidays and family. Ivan knew that no matter how much he and Alfred loved their siblings, they could not stand being each other’s presence for longer than they needed to be. Ivan could stand when it was just him and Alfred in the house but did not want to be stuck with his sister more than he had to be. Alfred had also confessed there were times that he and Matt couldn’t stand each other when they hadn’t had time apart. Would I feel the same about a child? Ivan had wondered as he and Alfred packed their bags and looked for their equipment. Alfred had liked snowboarding but said it had been awhile since he had done it so Ivan wanted to let him put the equipment he had in the garage to good use. “I am going to make you so exhausted that you won’t want to ski.” Alfred said as he jumped from behind Ivan and pushed him down on the bed.

“Oh really?” Ivan teased.

“Really.” Alfred said kissing him. “It’ll be like our honeymoon.”

“The one where we got multiple calls from the front desk to be quiet, you screamer?” Ivan laughed.

“Hey I wasn’t the only loud one.” Alfred said.

“Nyet. I do not know what you are talking about.” Ivan played innocent as he turned Alfred onto the bed when there was a knock heard at the door.” Cyka Blyat” Ivan moaned under his breath then spoke up, “You may come in.”

“Am I interrupting something? I can come back?” Katyusha said.

“Meh.” Alfred said. “We’ll have plenty of time for that later.” He hated making her seem like she was interrupting something or being a burden. “What do you need?”

“Your laundry finished. I folded it and brought it up to you.” Katyusha said. 

“Thanks Katy.” Alfred said as he pushed Ivan to the side and picked it up from her. 

“Did I bother you brother?” She asked looking at Ivan.

“At least you knocked….” Ivan said. Katyusha looked confused.

“Matthew caught us in a similar way only he didn’t have the curtesy to knock so that made Vanya particularly annoyed.”

“I should say so. Do not worry, your house is in good hands. You two just need to go to the resort and have fun. Be safe too. I would hate for one of you to come back with a broken leg from this. I mean your bedroom is upstairs.” Katyusha said. 

“Oh if Vanya hurts himself, I’ll carry him up over my shoulder and take care of it all.” Alfred assured Katyusha as she smiled and headed out of the room.

“That’s so precious. I’m making dinner tonight so when you are finished, it should be.” She said shutting the door behind them.

“What makes you think I will be the one getting hurt on this trip?” Ivan teased. “You take bigger risks than I do sports.”

“Oh you think you know it all when it comes to this.” Alfred teased. “But I would take care of my man no matter what he does to himself. I promised to in sickness or in health.”

“If anyone gets hurt it will be you with those tricks you liked to attempt on your snowboard last time I saw it. I was surprised you didn’t hurt yourself then. But this time it has been awhile and you might overestimate your skills.” Alfred stuck his tongue out at Ivan. “And if you do, I will be here to treat my patient as his leg gets better.”

“Why do you think it will be my leg?” Alfred teased.

“Just a hypothetical.” He said as he kissed Alfred on his forehead and put the suitcases beside the door for when they left the next day. 

“Come on, you’re not going to finish this?” Alfred said.

“Oh, I want you to be so aroused and craving me that the first moment we get the chance I can take you.” Ivan teased.

“God you’re playing worse than before our honeymoon.” Alfred said.

“Exactly.” Ivan teased.

The next day after bidding Matthew and Katyusha well, they drove off with Alfred looking out the window as they headed to the resort. You can be so excitable at times my love Ivan smiled as they pulled in and Alfred’s eyes widened at what he had seen. The resort had plenty of lifts and trails and looked like a giant hotel that was nothing but a large log cabin. “Much better than that ski trip that our student union had planned, Da?” Ivan teased. 

“Much” Alfred said. “You certainly know how to treat a guy.” 

“You’ll see when we get checked in.” Ivan said. He led Alfred to the desk where they were checked in and then took the key and headed up towards the room assigned on the key fob. Alfred kept asking just what was going on as they carried their bags along with them. 

“This place is pretty sweet, but we left our equipment in the car.” Alfred said.

“Do you really think someone will break into our car?” Ivan teased, knowing how Alfred was when he wanted to get Ivan to spoil a surprise. With this he opened the door and show the room. “Think this is good enough for your liking?”

Alfred dragged his suitcase and looked around. The room was large and spacious with a king-sized bed, large whirlpool tub in the bathroom. “Dude.”

“I see I have you speechless.” Ivan said as he pushed the bags aside and shut the door. “No one will disturb us now.” With this he pulled Alfred up and held him close, pushing him onto the bed. “I love you so much dorogoy” Ivan whispered. 

“I love you Vanya.” Alfred whispered as Ivan unzipped Alfred’s jacket and threw it aside.

“I will make you feel better than you had ever.” He whispered into Alfred’s ear. His heartbeat grew faster. 

Meanwhile Matthew laid back on the couch and flipped through the channels of the television with a smile on his face. “Peace and quiet.” He spoke.

“It’s almost as if this is a gift Vanya gave the both of us unintentionally.” Katyusha smiled. 

“What were you doing?” Matthew asked.

“Oh this?” Katyusha blushed. “I was looking at homes in the area. With your job we won’t have to rent, and we can have a nice place for us to raise the baby.”

Matthew smiled. Sure it was simple, boring and no one would really care about it, but the fact that it was him and his wife having this discussion made Matthew feel much better than he was a month and a half ago when he was worried they would be forced into a crappy apartment where he’d be looking for work to make ends meet, not have any time to spend with Katyusha and their daughter because one parent would be working while the other looked after the child. He’d be avoiding his family because he couldn’t bear their judgement and would feel inferior to his own brother and would not want his fathers to be worried or even try to raise his daughter for him because of that. He saw a picture of a house with 3 bedrooms and a decent sized yard. “How does this one look? Enough space in the yard for a playset and a garden for mommy.”

“That’s so sweet.” Katyusha said. “Maybe we can do what Vanya did and find a place that needs a little repair.”

“Well, he knew how to do most of it himself.” Matthew said. “My fathers didn’t know much when it came to home repair themselves, so they didn’t impart much. I just have shop class and what I learned on YouTube videos, so we didn’t have to pay the landlord extra to fix whatever broke. I didn’t have a handy great-uncle who insisted that as part of being a young man I know how to build a house complete with that beautiful wood carving you see in Russia.”

“Well, you could ask them to help. I am sure that Vanya would be more than happy to.” Katyusha said. “But that won’t be for a little while. Fredka told me we were more than welcome to stay as long as we needed to, especially since you now have a job but….”

“You don’t want to impose.” Matthew said as Katyusha nodded. 

“Especially because of what Fredka is talking to Vanya about.” Katyusha said.

“Adopting?” Matthew said as Katyusha nodded again. “Al talked to me about it too. Can’t say they’d be bad. Better than Papa and Dad from what I can tell. They don’t bicker all the time. I think they get that out in the bedroom….” Katyusha laughed.

“So, when an argument brews, they get carnal?” She laughed.

“Makes about as much sense as any.” Matthew laughed.

“Your hair is stupid and hockey stinks!” Katyusha said.

“Are you trying to see what they get out of it?” Matthew said. Katyusha nodded.

“Well then you burned the roast Mrs. Williams.” Matthew teased.

“And we have all the room in the house for us to work this out.” Katyusha said kissing Matthew. “We won’t disturb the baby at all. I discussed it with the doctor.” 

“With pleasure.” Matthew smiled.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Once again, I thank all of you who have review, fave and even read this story. It means a lot to me. I started this with a few scenes in mind and it blew into this. So, remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now, 

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm


	17. Chapter 17

I do not own Hetalia okay? Now my updates on things will slow because of work and school but I wanted to give you guys another chapter before it got too busy and updates over the stories, I have slow. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Alfred looked at the ceiling, wiping the sweat off his brow. "That was great." Alfred said looking at Ivan who nodded in satisfaction. "It has been just so long."

"Da" Ivan nodded as he rolled over and pulled Alfred closer to him with a 'uuummph.' "Ya lyublyu tebya" He whispered into Alfred's ear.

Alfred turned and kissed Ivan on the nose. "I love you too big guy. I like that we did this." He turned and looked out the window of their room. Snow was starting to fall. "Looks like there's going to be some fresh powder out there tomorrow."

"Looks like" Ivan said as he kissed Alfred.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Natalya sat beside Toris as he fulfilled his promise to take her to Moscow over the holiday season. She knew there would be more things getting ready for the new year than back home and there would be more Ded Moroz than Santa, even though she had to admit there was some similarity in their looks to Santa. Ded Moroz is not Santa…. She thought as she looked out the window as they approached the Russian border. It wasn't that far from where Toris's family lived and most of the drive would be through Belarus and Russia, but it was still a very long drive. She had told Toris she would handle most of it, as she did make the request, but he said he would. God, he's so insistent. I can handle myself. She thought as she stared at the grey and cold countryside. She hadn't been on many vacations after her Great Uncle died but she did remember many of the trips she took in high school as part of her ballet team heading to recitals and many of them were long and boring. However, it gave her time to think about what her family did mean and what she wanted to do. She looked at the ring that Toris gave her too. It had great meaning to him. It was understood that they were not engaged yet and she wasn't thinking of that until she graduated and got her BA at least, yet she was feeling conflicted. She did love Toris, but enough to get serious with? At this Toris pulled into a gas station and headed out. "Huuh?" Natalya asked as she was brought from her thoughts.

"I need to put some gas in the car." He spoke. "Are you okay?"

"Just thinking is all." Natalya said.

"Anything I should know?" Toris asked with genuine concern.

"Probably" Natalya said under her breath. "I'm going to get something to drink from inside. I will drive for this part of the trip."

"You sure?" Toris asked.

"I can drive most anything." Natalya replied. "You should have seen some of the cars my big sister taught me to drive on. Amazed big brother how well I could." Toris looked at her. "Oh, he was off at college around the time of my 16th birthday. Was the start of his third year and he had told me he had nearly gotten into a fight with his roommate."

"That must have made things rough." Toris said. "I'm lucky to get along with my roommate well. It's not like can pick them."

"I can say mine minds her place too. But I swear if you had told me then that that he would end up married to said roommate, I'd never have believed you." Natalya sighed. "How you got from hating someone to fucking them, I'll never know."

"Wait, you don't mean that your…." Toris began.

"Yes, big brother's husband was his roommate that year in college and they nearly beat each other up over who got to claim what bunk." Natalya said as Toris laughed. "What's so funny?"

"I would never have believed it if you hadn't told me." Toris said. "Then again some might not think you'd actually date me. As it was well known with my friends, I was terrified of you so much I couldn't speak to you."

"So how did you get the courage to even speak to me?" Natalya asked.

"A dare from one of my friends and a little liquid courage." Toris laughed. "Some vodka."

Natalya nodded as she focused on the road as they drove along. She had set the GPS on her phone to head into the hotel in Moscow that Toris had booked for their stay and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she dodged someone who was speeding past them in a car that looked as if it was from the Soviet era. "Slez' s dorogi, slepaya svin'ya! Vy upravlyayete mashinoy metallicheskoy smerti, vedete sebya kak vzroslyy, a ne p'yanyy rebenok!" She yelled as the car came to a stop in front of her.

"Uhhhhhh Nattie baby…. I don't think you should have said that." Toris gulped.

"Watch me." She said as she turned off the car and headed to the man who had stopped in front of her.

"You have a problem you Yankee bitch?" The gruff man said as he carried a tire iron in his arm. Toris reached around in the back of the car, seeing if he had something, he could use to help her, but Natalya stood at him with cold, unphased eyes.

"Izvinite menya?" Natalya said shocked. "Did you just call me 'Yankee bitch?'" She had paused, sure she had been shipped out of Russia when she was young, but did she really lose as much of her accent so that he couldn't tell. People still had a hard time understanding Ivan and Katyusha but her? Maybe my mother tongue isn't as thick as theirs because I came over when I was younger. Shaking the fear from her mind, she turned back to the man. "You must be drunk. You should not be driving. You could hurt someone."

"Like you princess?" The man scoffed as he came at her. Natalya pulled a knife from under her jacket and stabbed the man in the arm he was holding the tire iron with.

"Who is the princess now?" She spat as she headed back into the car. "You may want to get that looked at." With this, she turned the car back on and sped away from the man who was sulking with a wound to his shoulder and his pride. Toris looked at her in silence as they drove along towards Moscow. "What?" She asked breaking the silence.

"Well, where did you have the knife? I thought you couldn't take it through security?" Toris said panicking at the idea that Natalya had brought a weapon and possibly commit a crime across borders.

"Packed in the hold baggage. I couldn't take it with me on the carry on." Natalya said. "I also have my phone set as a dash camera. That way if he calls the police on us, I can prove he struck first and it was in self-defense. Worst case scenario, I can just call up the American Embassy and restart the Cold War over a drunkard attacking a little woman like me. I am aware of how I look. Most people would think I am weak, but I swore to never be so and that I could stand on my own. I am staying on campus and I do not need someone attacking me. Although I am not so sure about Russia's laws on the matter, it has been a while since I heard any of it. But I guess the citizenship I was forced should be good for something." Natalya mused.

"I was so worried for you." Toris said.

"You needn't be. I wouldn't be much of a woman if I could not stand up for myself and needed someone to protect me." Natalya noted as they drove into Moscow.

"Do you think we should tell your brother and sister about this?" Toris asked.

"No." Natalya said. "It would only worry them. I do not want to do that." And I would never hear the end of it from Katyusha about how Great Uncle wanted us in America for reasons like that when I learned how to defend myself so I wouldn't be attacked on an American college campus at night. I know he would have meant well but it is not his time anymore.

"Hey, look Vanya, they got a balcony!" Alfred said as they headed to the lodge restaurant for dinner that night.

"Two for the patio?" The hostess asked. She saw Ivan's face. "Don't worry sir, it is heated well so our guests can enjoy the night air and all the pleasure of the snowfall with their meals without getting intolerably cold."

"I like the sound of that." Alfred said, jumping up and down like an excited child.

"I guess that is where we should go." Ivan laughed. You are so excitable Fredka. He thought with a smile as the hostess sat them down. The patio was cooler than the rest of the restaurant but not by much more. Jackets were still needed to make sure you didn't freeze but the heaters kept it warm. The waitress came over and took their drink orders and Alfred looked out at the scenery.

"It's funny." Alfred smiled.

"What's funny?" Ivan asked.

"I should have brought my telescope. It's a full moon and clear as a bell. Couldn't ask for better winter stargazing." He smiled as he looked up at the sky. "Look, the big dipper. He then pointed to another star. "And the North star. It's on the Alaskan flag."

Ivan smiled and looked over at the same place. It was another interest they both had, stargazing and space. While neither of them was likely to be astronauts as many children dream, they had done a lot of work with aerospace projects and sometimes the company that either of them worked for would not disclose the client who asked for the project but that was understood at that point it was 'government work.' God, what Great Uncle would think on that one…. Ivan mused as they were given their drinks and placed their orders. At this Alfred spoke up, "I want to go out west with you one of these days and just stargaze out there."

"You have been out there already?" Ivan asked.

"When I was younger, we went on vacation to California. I mean we flew out, so no road trip fun." Alfred said. "Did you know my dad gets airsick and he and Papa cannot fly United Airlines?"

"Nyet." Ivan said. "Well, my dad and papa were banned from United Airlines for joining the-mile-high club. Loudly."

"While you two were on the flight?" Ivan asked surprised.

"Amazingly yes." Alfred laughed. "Mattie and I were like 12 and we were going to San Diego to Sea World and Knotts Berry Farm and all that jazz. Got to go whale watching too, but that's not the point. We had to book tickets on a different airline. And go out of Las Vegas's airport to do so. So, we spent a few extra days in Nevada. Wouldn't go to Rachel or Roswell…."

"Did your fathers get kicked out of anything in Las Vegas?" Ivan asked with a laugh.

"Dad for getting drunk at one of the casinos and saying Monaco's was better loudly. While my papa loved the sentiment, an ideal family vacation does not involve getting kicked out of places. Mattie and I spent a lot of the extra days at the pool of the hotel we stayed out before our flight." Alfred mused. "He's still got the freckles on his shoulders from the sunburn. I mean while there is plenty of family friendly things there we did get to see, it's not fun when your dad is sitting in the room going 'why won't the light shut up'?" Alfred sipped his coke. "It's funny, Mattie and I are near identical twins, but he bursts into fire in the sun and I get a sweet tan."

"I burst into fire in the sun." Ivan sighed.

"But I want to take you to the desert for the stargazing. You see one day we drove to the Grand Canyon, which isn't that far but a little bit of a drive, like 3 hours or so. That night we drove back, and I got to see just how it was out there. Beautiful despite the lectures my dad was giving me about being more careful and complaints he had about parking costs." He sipped his soda again. "If I oversaw that vacation, I wouldn't complain about that. You kind of expect things like that. And I wouldn't fly."

"I thought you liked planes." Ivan said.

"I do. I don't mind flying but for something like that, I want to road trip. See this huge wide nation. I always figured I'd take you in an RV and stop at every stupid landmark, every world's largest piece of junk and so on." Alfred had a dreamy look in his eyes. Ivan knew it was how he was when he was talking about a goal of his. "And we wouldn't have to stay in a hotel or if we wanted to keep on driving through the night one of us could sleep while the other drives. Just awesome."

"What if it wasn't just the two of us?" Ivan said, liking the image of a family vacation like that.

"What? Bring Mattie and Katy? They'd have a baby and that wouldn't be very good. I mean there'd be more people to drive if we had to be back in the area by a certain time." Alfred said.

"Nyet." Ivan said shaking his hands. "Not them."

"No! I am not taking my parents as both Papa and Dad would fight and whine and I'd leave them at a rest stop in West Virginia!" Alfred said.

"Not them either. And why a rest stop in West Virginia?" Ivan asked at the rather specific point he would ditch his fathers.

"Because I wanted to see some of the places from that Fallout 76 game. Apparently, West Virginia's tourism department is using the game to promote it and looked cool." Alfred said. "And we are NOT taking Natalya with us. I mean I like her boyfriend Toris, but I think one of us would get into a bloody fight before we left the state." Alfred said.

Ivan rolled his eyes. Sometimes his husband was just clueless when he was trying to drop a hint. He was used to it and it seemed to make the surprises better for Alfred anyway. "I was meaning with a child of our own."

"That means we'd have to adopt. Unless you're hiding something from me, and I know your body pretty well…." Alfred winked.

"Obviously." Ivan rolled his eyes. "But I have been thinking and I would like to have that dream. But instead of having a baby of our own, I want it to be an older child. Like 5 or so. I read that most children who are up for adoption who are older than toddlers do not get adopted because of that. I think that is unfair and ridiculous. They will still spend most of their lives with us." Ivan reasoned.

"And we'd miss out on potty training and diapers…." Alfred said.

"Is that so important to you?" Ivan asked.

"I honestly do not want to deal with that. I mean I would if I had to, but god." Alfred said. "I like the way you think though Vanya. I am just so glad you want to as well. You just have to promise you won't let us turn out like my parents." Alfred shuddered. "That was some of the most embarrassing things ever when Dad and Papa got out of hand."

"Trust me Fredka. I would never let that happen. And they can be very humiliating to be around." Ivan smiled as their food was placed in front of them.

"Good. I'm starved." Alfred said as he greedily dug into his meal.

The same night, Matthew was reading a book on what to expect when becoming a father while Katyusha was working on knitting a blanket for the baby. She had picked up a bunch of pink and white yarn so that by the time the baby was born the first thing they would have was a blanket she had made personally for them. She had loved to knit and knew that Ivan's favorite thing was things she had made for them and knew the baby would love it too. "OOOh!" She said.

"What?" Matthew asked.

"The baby is kicking." She smiled. "Feel."

"It is." Matthew said, feeling the kicks and never feeling prouder in his life.

Translation guide:

(Obtained Via google Translate

Ya lyublyu tebya-Russian-I love you

Slez' s dorogi, slepaya svin'ya! Vy upravlyayete mashinoy metallicheskoy smerti, vedete sebya kak vzroslyy, a ne p'yanyy rebenok.- Russian- Get off the fucking road you blind pig! You are driving a metal death machine, act like an adult not a drunken child.

Izvinite menya?-Russian- Excuse me?

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don't know how fast I can update but rest assured I will. So, remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	18. Chapter 18

I do not own Hetalia okay? Work is getting busy so I can’t update all of them like I did. Anyway, enough of th A/N, on with the fic!

Alfred woke early to see the new snow and smiled. He and Ivan had been out a few times and always came back cold, exhausted but the activities of the night left them more so. New Year’s Eve was a day away and Alfred wanted to get out today and get the most of the time he had on the slopes. He had been dusting off some of the tricks he had not done in a few years and while there were a few spills, it was nothing too serious. By the time Ivan woke up, he saw that Alfred was already decked out from head to toe in his new gear and had his snowboard in his hand. Why he won’t ski I will never know, but he does have fun. Ivan thought as he sat up in the bed. “Ugggghhhh, eager to get started today, da?” Ivan laughed.

“Well we’re only staying till what, the second?” Ivan nodded. Alfred continued, “Well you paid good money for this, I’m going to get the most out of it.” He then threw Ivan his jacket. “Hurry up and get dressed. I’ll meet you at the restaurant for breakfast then let’s hit the slopes.”

“Fine. Just wait here.” Ivan said as he got up and began to get dressed. 

“Fine.” Alfred laid back on the bed and rolled his eyes. He then picked up the remote control and flipped through the channels. “Just let me know when you are ready.”

Matthew had gotten up before Katyusha that morning and headed into the kitchen. He had filled out all the paperwork that Gilbert cursed human resources for requiring, which was quite an interesting sight, to hear German profanity as he went through the boring legal documents that his job had required him to do. “I’m really sorry about all of this Mattie. Luddy just went to HR himself when it came time. He’s good with this kind of crap. Me? It’s part of the job. I have to but god knows I hate it.” Gilbert said as he handed the final pages to his secretary. “There. Give that to that bitch in HR. “So, here’s your first assignment.” Gilbert said.

“Already? Investigating something?” Matthew said with a little interest.

“Nein, nothing that interesting sadly. But we do have to get your face out there. And this station has a New Year’s broadcast, now don’t get your hopes that it’s freaking Times Square. You have to be some soulless celebrity phony to get that. But it’s a small little thing where they drop a giant marshmallow.” Gilbert explained as Matthew looked at him confused. “Oh I forgot, you said you didn’t spend a lot of time here.”

“Al never really mentioned that.” Matthew said. “Then again he spends most New Year’s days with a splitting hangover.”

“So he’s got tolerance like your Dad huh? I’ve seen Francis’s new year’s drinking.” Gilbert laughed. “But I know many a party had Arthur regretting it next day.”

“I think it is because Ivan talks Al into matching him shot for shot with vodka.” Matthew said.

“Oh and he can’t hold his white liquors. I understand that. I can drink you under the table with a fine beer. Come to Oktoberfest one time with me and Luddy. But give me some peppermint schnapps, too much and it’s nothing but minty vomit.” Noticing Matthew was looking rather awkward at this, “Relax. I run this place like a relaxed but well disciplined well oiled machine. But to keep that well oiled, we must have fun and know each other. So yeah, most of the people here know what it takes for me to get drunk.” Matthew waved off Gilbert to head back to Katyusha when he smiled, “Oh and tell your Schöne Ehefrau she’s invited to the station’s bash too. If her feet aren’t too swollen with your das Töchterchen” 

“Huh?” Matthew asked. “I am not that good with German remember?”

“You will pick it up after awhile.” Gilbert laughed. “But you can bring your beautiful wife if her feet aren’t too swollen from the baby girl. Francis told me the other day.” He added noticing Matthew’s confusion. “Auf Wiedersehen!” he said as Matthew waved him off.

He had went home and told Katyusha of his first assignment. She had hugged him tightly then but screamed like a teenage girl who had been asked to the prom by a movie star in some clinched teen romance movie when he added that Gilbert said that she could come too. “Now I don’t know if you’ll be on television as well, he said he wanted me there to introduce the viewers to me as the new anchor.”

“Still. My Matvey will be on television and I will be there to see it. Not stuck at home having to wait ungodly hours for him to come back.” Katyusha said. “I must find something proper to wear! You do have your new suits. God, if only your papa were here. I have never met anyone else so knowledgeable about fashion! This is so exciting.” She said as she ran into the bedroom and looked in the closet to see if there was any dresses she deemed good enough. “And he could probably quickly alter this to accommodate the baby bump too....” She sighed as she looked at a light blue dress she had that came off the shoulder and accented her chest better than most dresses. It fell to her knees and she wore it often with a set of tan sandals. 

“How about we go find something better for cold weather?” Matthew said. “There’s a few nice dress stores where Papa dragged Al and Ivan after Thanksgiving.”

“And we can call him and show him what we pick out.” Katyusha smiled. Matthew smiled nervously. “Yes he’d know a lot about that....” 

After breakfast that day, Alfred got his snowboard, Ivan his skis and they headed out to make full advantage of the day. Alfred was eager to show off the tricks he had finally perfected and to take some of the faster slopes down the hill. Since he heard about the Aspen Thumper being one of the biggest ramps that could get some of the best tricks done, Alfred insisted he and Ivan try it out. Ivan was nervous as it had been awhile since he had done anything with that kind of speed. The memory of the instructor the first time he had been skiing in America came to mind “If you pizza when you should have French fried, you’re going to have a bad time” Ivan gulped as the lift took them to the top of the jump. “Are you sure about this Fredka? I won’t think less of you if we back out.”

“Nah man, I haven’t been getting my groove back for nothing Vanaya.” Alfred smiled as he jumped out of the gate and sped down the hill.

“Chert voz'mi, ty spazm” Ivan said under his breath as he followed after Alfred who had taken the jump and as he twisted in the air, he tried to flip in a circle with his head towards the ground. Ivan gulped at this, thinking he would lose control. The board came to be horizontal with the ground again but as it came closer, Alfred started to wobble and he fell with his back to the ground over a few rocks and a large stump

Ivan looked over at Alfred who had taken the slope wrong and had fallen over. “Son of a bitch!” Alfred yelled. Well he’s not unconscious..... Ivan said as he ran over to his injured husband. The right leg looked like it had sustained some damage as he had fallen off the ramp he was trying to jump off of and onto a large stump. He tried to get up. Ivan saw this and looked slightly relieved as Alfred tried to get back up but fell back down. “Fuck!” Alfred said. 

“Just calm down.” Ivan said as he sat next to Alfred. “Let me check this out.”

“It hurts like a son of a bitch!” Alfred hissed as he bit his lip.

“Can you put weight on it?” Ivan asked, trying to remember everything he had been taught to determine if a bone was broken or not. When he saw Alfred’s failure to get back up, he had thought so but it could just be a sprain. He didn’t need to seek too much help for that. But if it was broken, he’d have to go to the hospital. 

“Did you not see what just happened? I can’t fucking stand!” Alfred moaned. 

“Oooohh I need to get some help....” Ivan sighed as he turned around.

“Don’t you fucking dare leave me alone like this you commie bastard!” Alfred cursed. Ivan ignored the insult knowing just how colorful his insults could be when he was in pain. Well that was some pretty loud cursing, maybe a ranger or resort worker heard it. Ivan thought as he heard an engine revving nearby. “For fuck’s sake....” Alfred moaned.

“We got some reports of loud and foul language from some of the guests.” A man with a Finnish accent said as he stopped the snowmobile and turned to Ivan.

“Well I think you will see why here.” Ivan said as he drug the man to where Alfred was. “You showed up just in time.”

“Oh my!” The resort groundskeepers said. “I can see why.” He bent down to look at Alfred. “How does your leg feel?”

“Like shit.” Alfred snarled. “And just who the hell are you?”

“Please forgive his language and rudeness.” Ivan pleaded.

“I can see he’s badly injured. I’ve heard it all before.” He sighed. “I’m Tino Väinämöinen. I am one of the workers at this resort in charge of patrolling the grounds.” He pressed on Alfred’s leg where the fracture appeared to have happened. “I don’t see any blood soaked into the clothes, that’s good....” He noted. “Alfred, do you have any numbness or tingling around this spot?”

“I thought it was because I was in my ass in the snow.” Alfred cursed.

“It’s likely broken.” Tino reported as he pulled out a radio from his jacket. “Berwald, yep, going to need the medical mobile. Contact an ambulance, I think it’s broken. Okay.”

“Huh?” Ivan asked confused.

“It appears that the leg is broken. I can’t see any blood and he does seem to have a....lively” Tino paused to find the right words. “Yes lively response. So either his adrenaline is way up and ignoring the blood loss, or it’s a simple fracture. Easily reset but there’s no more stunts for you.” He said as he turned to Alfred. 

“Fuck off.” Alfred moaned. He then saw Ivan’s face drop. “Look, sorry for what I said, this just fucking hurts and I fucking ended our trip and you’ll have to look after me for like 6 fucking weeks. I can’t do much while we’re here....”

“It’s no worries Fredka.” Ivan said as he kissed Alfred on the forehead. “You would do the same for me.

“Awwwww you two are so sweet.” Tino said as another snowmobile with a small trailer attached to it pulled up. A stern, tall blonde man got off with an extensive first aid bag and a stretcher. “Hello Berwald.” Tino waved. Berwald nodded and then pointed to Alfred.

“This the patient?” He asked simply. 

“Yes. Had a nasty accident doing a trick.” Tino reported. At this Berwald looked over at the injured Alfred and began to move him gently to prepare him for transport.

“OW OW OW!!!” Alfred moaned as the broken leg was moved.

“Don’t resist.” Berwald said as he laid out the stretcher and nodded for Tino to join him. Tino took Alfred’s shoulders as Berwald took the legs as gentle as he could, ignoring the cries of pain.

“Should I help?” Ivan asked, feeling rather uncomfortable while these two men took care of his husband. “I mean I might be a little stronger than you Tino....”

“Thank you for the concern, but I have this. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to treat a broken leg, and won’t be the last.” Tino said as he reassured Alfred about what Berwald was doing. Once the leg splint was finished, they took the stretcher to the snowmobile and headed back to the lodge. Ivan headed after.

“Sorry but there isn’t enough room for both of you.” Tino replied putting his hand up to stop Ivan from joining Alfred. “But I can give you a ride back to the lodge on mine.” With this Ivan packed his skis on his back and held onto Tino as he followed Berwald back to the lodge. At the lodge, a few paramedics were waiting with an ambulance to take Alfred to the hospital. 

“Already?” Ivan asked.

“I am sure you know that accidents are likely to happen here.” Tino explained. “We are also pretty close to the dispatch center. They will take you and Alfred to the hospital so his leg can be fully set.”

“Ah fuck this hurts....” Alfred moaned as Berwald and a paramedic put him on a stretcher and into the ambulance. Ivan made to follow Alfred in when he stopped him. “Dude, Vanya think for a minute. How are we going to get back here, drive the car and meet me there.”

“You sure you did not hit your head?” Ivan cracked a smile. 

“Maybe, who knows.” Alfred shrugged as the driver gave Ivan the directions to the hospital. “And it looks like my board will need some repair too, when he saw it.”

“We’ll worry about your leg first.” Ivan said as he picked up the broken board and waved Alfred off as he got the car keys and drove to the hospital. It had seemed the ambulance had gotten there first as he had found a nurse taking Alfred’s blood pressure and giving him a shot of pain medication. Alfred waved over at Ivan as the receptionist had let him back and took him to him. 

“Don’t feel bad big guy.” Alfred laughed. “I got a good story to tell everyone. Is it just me or do you think that Berwald guy really liked that Tino guy? And what kind of name is Tino anyway. His accent was funny. Reminded me of an elf or something at Christmas.” Alfred looked all around at the emergency room setting. “Look at the curtains here. Holes at the top! I could make a fish net out of them!”

“I see the medication is kicking in.” Ivan sighed. He had remembered that in their final year he had to have his wisdom teeth removed and he had volunteered to take him to the oral surgeon so his fathers wouldn’t have to and Matthew could go to a job interview that happened to be the same day. When he had finally come to after the anesthesia, the pain medicine that was prescribed had made him very giggly, much like he was now. 

“Ah yes, Mr. Braginsky-Jones.” The doctor said. “I am Doctor Yao Wang.”

“Your last name is Wang!” Alfred laughed.

“I heard it all before.” The long black haired Chinese doctor sighed. 

“Forgive him, heavy pain medication makes him this way.” Ivan said.

“It is an unfortunate consequence for coming to America to practice. Although I am older than I look and have also practiced in Australia and the United Kingdom and had gotten the same laugh." Ivan nodded as Doctor Wang turned to him. “You must be the husband.” Doctor Wang said as he looked over to Ivan. “You’ll be happy to know despite the fact this young nutjob, no offense, thought he was Batman and that he could fly off that blasted snowboard, the fracture is a simple one and just requires resetting and a cast. It was a displaced fracture meaning the bones were placed out of position.” Ivan nodded. “We also made sure there was no damage on any other bones, like his spine or ribs or neck and they are fine. A little bruised but fine. We will put the cast and look for any current signs of a concussion but they can be delayed. So far, he has not tell tale signs, but that does not mean a mild one could not have occurred. Keep him from alcohol while on the medication. They do not mix.”

“Awwwwwww.” Alfred pouted “but tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve.”

“I’ll get us some sparking cider then.” Ivan said.

“But you can have your usual vodka.” Alfred huffed.

“I will not this year.” Ivan pledged. “If my podsolnechnik cannot, then I will not either.”

“Do we have to go home?” Alfred sighed.

“Well if you don’t mind staying in the room until the second and hanging around the lodge, then I guess we can if you want.” Ivan suggested as he and Alfred watched Doctor Wang and another doctor, one named Doctor Leon who said he was an exchange student from Hong Kong who seemed to have a rebellious respect for Doctor Wang. Apparently Doctor Wang was a well respected emergency doctor who had great experience in all sorts of conditions and had been a doctor in the Chinese military before heading to the civilian sector as he got older. He was an associate of one of Leon’s professors in Hong Kong. After a few minutes, the cast was finished. 

“There. Good as new. You will be on crutches for six to eight weeks. Contact your regular doctor at this time and they will see how it healed. They will be the one to remove it and you will probably have some physical therapy needed after this, to get your injured leg as strong as the other. You two lovebirds can discuss your ruined new year while I get you the prescriptions needed and your after care instructions.”

“After care....” Alfred giggled.

“Oh what’s so funny.....” Ivan noticed the type of giggle. “Look I know you are under the influence of heavy pain medications but get your mind out of the gutter. The one time we tried that and needed it it was disaster.” Ivan dropped his voice in case anyone was eavesdropping. His tone increased “So you don’t mind staying at the lodge until we were supposed to go back?”

“Nah, as long as it’s with you. Gives Matt and Katy a break from us too.” Alfred said. 

“Well if that is what you want moya lyubov'” Ivan said as he kissed Alfred on the forehead. “It seems I have a message from Katyusha.” He said as he looked at the phone in his pocket. He headed into the corner and played the voicemail.

“I am sorry I missed you malenʹkyy brat. You must be having lots of fun with Fredka out there. But I just got word from Matvey’s boss. If you have the local news station at the lodge keep an eye on the station’s new years broadcast. That is all I can say. Bahato lyubovi” With this the voice mail ended. 

“What was that?”

“Katyusha. Said we should watch the station Matvey works at during New Year’s Eve....” Ivan said. “Wouldn’t say more.”

“Well I guess we can do that, but if I can’t drink, then I will have room service deliver a lot of my favorite party foods.” Alfred demanded.

“Sure.” Ivan smiled. 

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. The marshmallow idea came from some of the weird things towns in Pennsylvania drop. I grew up in that state and look it up. One town drops Bologna. No foolin! But anyway, I don’t have much to add that isn’t in the opening A/N, so remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.


	19. Chapter 19

I do not own Hetalia okay? I am so surprised at the response this story has gotten. Frankly I am really humbled by it. Anyway, I don’t have much else to say, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Ivan drove Alfred back to the resort after he was released from the hospital. Dr. Wang explained that being so close to a ski resort, broken bones because routine and they knew just what to do and quickly. In six weeks they were to contact their regular doctor who would then handle the rest of the treatment. Ivan could tell that the euphoria that the pain medication had left Alfred in was wearing down and he was looking rather down now. “What is wrong my love?” Ivan asked.

“I ruined our vacation.” Alfred said. “I shouldn’t have done something so reckless.”

“Nyet.” Ivan said. “Things like that happen. It does not bother me one bit. I am just worried about you healing.”

“But I know how you are when I am sick or injured.” Alfred sighed. “You never leave my side. I found you sitting beside my bed asleep when I had gone to bed after getting my wisdom teeth removed. I don’t want you to bother yourself with too much on my behalf.”

“I could not have fun when you cannot my podsolnechnik.” Ivan replied. “I will make due.” He saw Alfred’s look as they headed into the lodge, getting used to the crutches he was provided. “You want me to help you?”

“I’m fine.” Alfred said as he slowly got the hang of how the crutches worked. Knowing Alfred would hit him for taking over for him, and simply carrying him, Ivan stayed closed and held the door open and made sure he got to the elevator and helped him as they headed back to the room. “Well, this will make bed kind of tricky….”

Ivan nodded. “I am sure you weren’t meaning just sleeping, were you?” Alfred nodded. “Well, we can think of something. Just rest right now.” 

“I guess….” Alfred sighed as Ivan put his leg under a few spare pillows and tucked his husband in tightly. “Aren’t you joining me?” He pat the side of the bed beside him warmly. “I am sure you are tired too.”

“I will take a shower first and then join you my love.” Ivan kissed Alfred on the head. 

“Fine.” Alfred said as he turned on the television and flipped to see if the channel that Matthew was working at was on, and smiled at the fact it was. At least I will be able to see what was so exciting about it for Katy….

The next day, Matthew and Katyusha were at the outlet mall, looking through the various dresses for something that would suit her and help keep her warm. Francis was looking through the racks of dresses sighing. Apparently after Matthew had left that day. Gilbert had called and told Francis of what Matthew was having to do and that he had invited Katyusha along. While Matthew and Katyusha had just planned on just calling Francis for advice but he had insisted claiming he didn’t want his belle-fille looking dumpy and homely on television next to his son. What had started out as an exciting trip to the store for a new dress, turned into a hectic nightmare. It was New Year’s Eve and Matthew had to be at the station by eight as Gilbert said he’d drive Matthew and Katyusha the rest of the way so they wouldn’t have to worry about parking at the town square as it was a nightmare to get out. “Shouldn’t you be spending New Year’s with Dad?” Matthew sighed as he stood by his papa tapping his foot. “I still have to get dressed myself too.”

“But Mathieu, it will be so cold out.” Francis said as Katyusha changed out of the dress he had picked and into her regular clothes. 

“I have that coat Dad got me a few years ago, and a scarf and mittens Katy made for me. I’ll be fine. I do better in the cold than Al does anyway.” Matthew said rolling his eyes. 

“This will do Francis.” Katyusha said as she picked a v neck long sleeved light blue maternity dress with yellow trim at the bottom of the skirt that came to her shins. “Besides, much like Matvey, I will be bundled up as well. She looked over at the shoes before Francis could find something that would make her feet hurt even more than they did when she stood for a long time “These tan flats will do fine.” She shoved the dress of her choice and the shoes into Francis’s arms and pushed him to the front. “Now pay for it.”

“Sacre bleu!” Francis said. “I have never known you to be so assertive!”

“Well you can be as much a pain as Fredka shopping sometimes, only in different ways.” Katyusha sighed. “Fredka whines about trying things on, and you won’t stop having me try things on. All the things you had me try did not suit me. Maybe fit well, but did not suit me. I liked this dress the best and it looked well enough on me I was happy. I felt like me. Not overly fancy either. Matvey seemed to like it and that’s what matters.” Katyusha said. She turned to Francis “If you are embarrassed by looks that is a personal issue of yours you need to deal with.” She pushed Francis to the counter. “Zaplatitʹ za tsyu vy zadyrystu zhabo” 

“Katy….” Matthew said astonished. 

“Just what are you looking at?” Katyusha sighed as Francis paid for the dress and shoes.

“You never stand up to my parents. On like anything.” Matthew said. 

“Well if I am having a child, I must learn to stand up for myself and not put up with inappropriate antics when they know better.” Katyusha said with a satisfied smirk at Francis’s moping.

“Well didn’t you do that with Ivan and Natalya?” Matthew asked.

“Kind of. It was mutually understood when our great uncle died, what I was doing for them so they kept to their school work like he wanted. I never really had to do so with them. But if I had to, they knew they were in real trouble.” Katyusha said.

“So that’s why your presence when Ivan and Al first met stopped that fight.” Matthew laughed. Katyusha blushed and nodded. 

“Here you go.” Francis said as he gave Katyusha the bag with the clothes and sighed. 

“Why thank you.” Katyusha smiled. “I don’t want to keep you from Arthur, Francis.” She nodded politely but trying to imply she had enough time with him. “I know he has said how much he loves ringing in the new year with you and it is quite a drive from where you live to here.”

“Oh, it was no trouble,” Francis said. 

“Papa you know that if you leave Dad unattended too long, he’s going to try to cook for himself. And I doubt that Ivan’s generosity would extend to you and Dad.” Matthew said. 

“You’re right Mathieu!” Francis said. Yeah, it’s that that gets the hint that you’ve worn out your welcome…. Matthew thought as he rolled his eyes. “I will see you on television tonight. And tell Gilbert Bonjour. I will have Antonio at the house too so if he wants to stop by when the broadcast is done.”

“I’ll pass the word along.” Matthew said as he and Katyusha got in their car and drove back home. “Thank god Papa is going home.” Katyusha looked over at him curiously. “Don’t get me wrong I love the man, but sometimes he’s insufferable.”

“So, I am not the only one thinking that.” Katyusha said. “I do not hate your parents, they, well, have moments that made before Vanya and Fredka got together seem tame. How two people who spent all their time arguing can be so in love they would marry and have children is beyond me.” 

“I don’t know, ask Al and Ivan how they did it.” Matthew laughed as his phone rang. “Can you get that for me? It’s Al. You can put it on speaker.” 

“Zdrastuyte Fredka.” Katyusha smiled as she put the phone on speaker and smiled over at Matthew “How are you doing? Matvey is driving right now, so I answered for him and put it on speaker so everyone could hear. So how is Vanya and yours’s little romantic getaway?”

“Well, it was fun.” Alfred started.

“Was fun?” Katyusha said, “What happened?”

“Broken leg.” Alfred said. 

“Was it you or Ivan?” Matthew said. 

“Who do you think Mattie?” Alfred sighed.

“You?”

“Why was your first guess me?” Alfred asked as Katyusha giggled. 

“You’re my brother. I know you.” Matthew teased. “Let me guess, you were taking that snowboard down a ramp too bad, thinking you were some Shaun White snowboarder and while you have done some tricks well, this one you slipped up on and gravity took over. Am I right?” Silence fell over the phone. “Well Al?” Matthew teased.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that speculation….” Alfred said.

“I will take that as a yes.” Matthew replied simply as Katyusha giggled. “So how did Ivan take that?”

“He’s like a mother hen. The pharmacy called and he went out to pick up the prescription the hospital gave me and a few things for lunch and other things he said we’d need for the last few days here. I offered to go with him, but he insisted I stay here and just watch TV. So, you’re replacing that Ludwig guy?”

“Yeah, his contract with that national company starts January first, and I will become the junior anchor while one of the current junior anchors is promoted. Some older guy, I think. Gilbert implied that if I am liked enough, once that old coot retires in a few years, I will have his job.” Matthew said as he came to a stoplight.

“Isn’t that so grand Fredka?” Katyusha asked. “So, Vanya is babying his injured cholovik?” She laughed as she heard Alfred sigh.

“Well, he is good at that. I do have to give him that Katy….” Alfred laughed shaking his head.

“He’s very caring for those he loves when they are sick.” She went on to explain. “I remember how he was before our great uncle died and when Natalya or I were sick ourselves. Never wanted for a thing. He’ll make sure your leg heals well and before you know it, you’ll be back on it in no time. Probably before the baseball season.”

Alfred paused and counted on his fingers the weeks. “You’re right Katy. Although the doctors did warn I may need physical therapy because they warned that that leg won’t be like my other one.”

“I’m sure Vanya will make sure that is as minimal as possible.” Katyusha said.

“Oh, Mattie what is going on that you want me to watch your station on new year’s?” Alfred asked.

“You’ll see.” Matthew smirked, knowing how much it drove Alfred insane that his brother had a secret he wouldn’t tell him. “Don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

“Spoil it! I don’t care.” Alfred said. “It’s not funny!” he added hearing Katyusha’s giggling.

“Nope. You’ll have to wait and see.” Matthew smirked, savoring the teasing he could give Alfred on the matter. “Now I must go home, get ready and then meet Gilbert about something. That’s all you will find out. Bye.” With this he hung up the phone, leaving Alfred staring at a ‘call ended’ on his phone. He laid the phone on the nightstand with a sigh. 

“Honey, I’m home.” Ivan said as he opened the door to the hotel room with a playful voice. 

“Oh hello!” Alfred laughed. “What did you get?”

“I got the medication from the pharmacy. God knows I don’t want your leg to get infected and you be in intense pain. They’d have to chop it off.” Ivan said with his dangerous cute smile. “And you are miserable with it just being incapacitated for a few weeks.” He placed the medications on the bedside table and pulled out another box from the bag from the pharmacy. “I figured this would be useful.”

“Cast cover?” Alfred read looking at the box. “So, it’s like if I just put a garbage bag on the end of this?”

“Except it will stay in place and is more reusable than a garbage bag.” Ivan rolled his eyes.

“Well better than the time I got them from the dollar store….” Alfred said.

“It is not saving money if you have to use 3 for one load of garbage you legkomyslennyy rebenok” Ivan rolled his eyes. “I also got you lunch.” He then tossed a sub to Alfred with a bag of baked barbecue chips and a bottle of lemonade. “I know it’s not your favorite, but you are already planning for a New Year’s feast of heart stopping proportions.” Alfred sighed. Ivan had been nagging at him to eat better as he was getting older, “And you won’t be able to hit the gym like you usually do. That is why you can get away with eating like you do and it does not affect you.” Alfred looked at the sandwich with a smile. “I at least made some concessions. I got you a turkey bacon club with the light ranch sauce. Lettuce, tomato cucumber and as much as I do not quite get why you like it, American cheese.”

“You aren’t completely heartless.” Alfred laughed as he took a big bite of his sub. 

“Chew with your mouth closed.” Ivan sighed tossing a napkin at him. It was part of Alfred’s personality he loved yet it drove him up a wall. But he was so happy and full of life, it was like his golden hair was sunshine itself. “Who called?”

“I called Mattie.” Alfred said as he sipped the lemonade. 

“Diet soda is no better than regular. This has some vitamins and minerals.” Ivan said.

“God who are you, my dad or my husband?” Alfred laughed. “Nah I was bored and wanted to talk to someone. So, I called him. He was heading home from an outing with Katyusha. 

“How is she doing?” Ivan asked concerned for his big sister.

“Sounds like she’s doing okay herself.” Alfred said as he opened the chips. Looking at their rather flat and smooth texture, he was skeptical that something paraded as a healthy snack food would be actually tasty, but he bit into it and smiled. “These aren’t bad.”

“You’ll learn to apricate good healthy food soon enough.” Ivan sipped his iced tea. “Needs some jam….”

“Dude, I don’t think jam in iced tea would work.” Alfred laughed. 

“After lunch I will help you with the shower. You’re starting to smell. And I have an idea that might help you feel better.” Ivan said.

“Well now….” Alfred smirked, noticing Ivan’s idea. “I will try anything once.”

“Hurry up Matvey! We’re going to be late and that would be a horrible thing to do!” Katyusha said as the sun was starting to set. Gilbert had wanted them there at the studio at 6 that day and it was getting later. Seeing that her husband was taking much longer than she would have liked for him to, she headed to the bathroom where he was fumbling with his tie. “Oh seriously.” She rolled her eyes taking the tie and quickly tying it for him and kissing him on the forehead. “You are nervous again.”

“Well duh.” Matthew said.

“You’ll do fine.” Katyusha assured him. “I mean you had talked your way out of a thrashing from Vanya when they discovered we were together at his and Fredka’s wedding.”

“I think that was because Al was laughing his ass off at me, he thought it was punishment enough.” Matthew said. 

“I do not think that was the major factor.” Katyusha said as she took a brush and straightened out Matthew’s hair. “It looks good wavy.” She noted as she placed it down. “No, you saw how he was when he first found out about the baby. You should have seen him with Eduard. Mind you this was when he was 19 and I am 5 year older than him. He would not have cared that it was his wedding day if you did not manage to convince him that you were good. Now let’s go. You’ll do fine.” She pulled him close and kissed him deeply. “You wouldn’t want to make a bad impression, would you?”

“No.” Matthew laughed as Katyusha took the keys. “And I am driving.”

Francis sat on the couch watching the station his best friend Gilbert managed. Normally he was not one for cop drama sitcoms and the way that Gilbert’s brother had delivered the news, and the weatherman seemed rather angry. Something about 99 percent chance of shitstorm for the snowstorm that was upcoming. Gilbert told him about Matthew’s debut, and he wanted to make sure it went off without a hitch. “Another.” Francis said as he handed Antonio the glass. 

“You may want to pace yourself buddy. No need to be worried so much.” Antonio said as he poured a glass of what Francis liked. 

“Yes, Matthew will do just fine.” Arthur said. 

“But my boy….” Francis.

“OUR boy is a grown man.” Arthur said. “And a fine one at that.”

“But this isn’t some school play or even the finals at the college hockey team he was on! You don’t know it, but I was so worried for him. Ever since he found out he was good at that violent game!” Francis wailed. “I had some of my wine in a flask with me, to calm my nerves and I drank so much it was empty.”

“Well, explains your behavior after….” Arthur said as Antonio brought out a bottle of Amontillado. I should use that stuff to wall Antonio in.

“Hockey is nothing like bull running. He’s going to be fine.” Antonio said pouring a glass of the Amontillado for each of them. “Now Saluda!”

“Saluda” They all said as they turned to the television screen. 

Ivan looked at the spread of food that Alfred had ordered and sighed. The pizza isn’t that bad…. I don’t know Gorbachev wouldn’t eat some in that commercial. Ivan remembered seeing in his youth of the former prime minister and hearing his mother curse at it, not fully understanding why she was so mad at the time. But something with Matthew and Katyusha was going to be going on that night that she was insistent they watch but would not say why. “Sparkling cider in paper cups from Pizza hut…” Alfred mused. “Why can’t I have a beer, like a Miller High Life,”

“It is alcoholic. Your medications are not to be mixed with it. If you act like everything is funny when on the medication like it is supposed to be given, I will not allow any deviation from that.” Ivan said.

“Party pooper.” Alfred sulked.

“Behave yourself and I’ll give you a happy new year.” Ivan kissed as the television screen turned to the town square with a giant marshmallow on a drop. “Every year….” Ivan rolled his eyes.

“Because the town used to be famous for making marshmallows like 100 years ago. They go over it every year.” Alfred sighed. Getting ready for the usual history of the town and why a giant marshmallow was dropped, delivered by Ludwig in the most boring and uptight way one could for telling the history of the marshmallow, he sipped the soda that he had and bit onto a chicken wing when to Alfred’s surprise, it was not Ludwig, but Matthew. He started to choke on the soda when Ivan thumped his back. “MATTIE!”

“Da.” Ivan nodded. “Katyusha is with him too.”

“Hello out there viewers! I am Matthew Williams, with my wife Katyusha here and we and all at the station wish you all out there a happy new year! Starting tomorrow I will be the new junior anchor here on Mondays through Fridays for the evening news.” Matthew said as Katyusha smiled.

“And there you have it folks. I wanted to start fresh with our new anchor. It’s me, station manager Gilbert Beilschmidt and while we will miss Ludwig much, he’s on to bigger and better things. Now as the year dies down and a new one begins, Mrs. Williams, if you please.” Gilbert announced as she hit the button and the marshmallow dropped. As the seconds waned, Gilbert took over the countdown “Ten…nine...eight...seven…six…five...four…three…two…one! Happy new year!” and in this he was joined by Matthew and Katyusha.

“Well…...” Alfred said as he turned down the volume on the television.

“I see why Katyusha was excited.” Ivan smiled. “It’s good she and Matvey have that.” His attention turned back to his husband. “Now to what I promised you.”

“If you do it as good as you did in the shower despite my leg being busted, then happy new year to me.” Alfred smirked.

Translation Guide:

Obtained via Google Translate:

Nyet-Russian-No  
Podsolnechnik-Russian-sunflower  
belle-fille-French-daughter in law  
Zaplatitʹ za tsyu vy zadyrystu zhabo-Ukrainian- Pay for this you snooty frog.  
Zdrastuyte-Ukrainian-Hello  
Cholovik-Ukrainian-Husband  
legkomyslennyy rebenok-Russian-scatterbrained child

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. A few references, some more obvious than others, Amontillado is a Spanish wine and used in Poe’s tale where the character walled his friend in. Thus, it was part of Arthur’s thoughts. And yes, former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev really did star in a Russian Pizza Hut commercial in 1997. You can find it on YouTube. Something you might see in the upcoming anime? I know it’s based off World Stars and I’ve read the English fan translations but come on, if they did Roswell and things like that, but I am rambling here. Anyway, remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	20. Chapter 20

I do not own Hetalia okay? I am so surprised at the response this story has gotten. Frankly I am really humbled by it. Anyway, I don’t have much else to say, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Natalya woke up early that New Year’s Day. They had made it into Moscow with good time to spare and had planned to stay in the city until New Year’s day when they would head back into Lithuania for a few days before they had to fly back. Looking at her phone and the time, she thought about calling her sister or her brother. They would both be about 8 hours behind and it would still be New Year’s eve back there. Toris was still asleep so she sighed and pressed the phone dial for her brother. Tossing aside Toris’s hastily discarded shirt with slight disdain, she looked out the window as some flurries blew by. Watch, he won’t pick up, too busy with that obnoxious husband of his…. She thought as she tapped her foot.

Meanwhile, Ivan was lying next to Alfred, the taste of his husband still on his mouth. “Told you I would think of something.” He said kissing him as he heard his phone ring.

“Uggggghhhh. Who calls at one in the fucking morning! Someone had better be dead and leaving me a ton of money.” Alfred moaned.

“Don’t be so negative.” Ivan said. “It’s Natalya. She must have just gotten up. She is always such an early riser.” He saw Alfred huff in frustration.

“I stand by what I said.” Alfred sulked. “I hope she doesn’t plan to make this a habit.”

“I will make sure she doesn’t.” Ivan assured. “Natalya! Are you aware of the time?” He asked politely but with a slightly annoyed tone that made Alfred gulp. He knew it well.

“Yes I am. I know it is the wee hours of the morning, a little after midnight but since it is New Year’s you would still be awake.” Natalya said as she headed over to the coffee maker provided in the room. She normally did not drink a lot of coffee but there was a long drive back to Lithuania that she said she would handle on the Moscow to the Lithuanian border with a stop in Minsk, Belarus for a little sightseeing and some lunch. I will let Toris drive us to his house. I will say this he sure holds his vodka better than I expected. “Your speech sounds clearer than most New Years that I can recall big brother. Is everything alright? Did your husband nag you into giving up vodka? Because frankly I have seen his father figures and they are not one to talk. I think that Frenchman father of his says it’s not drunk driving if you’re only drinking wine and his British dad can’t hold his liquor at all.”

“If you must know, I chose not to have any this year.” Ivan sighed. Something has gotten into Natalya. That had better not have been Toris…

“And just why is that?” Natalya said in an almost accusatory voice.

“If you must know Fredka broke his leg while we were skiing the other day and he acts funny enough on that pain medication they prescribed, let alone mixing it with alcohol. He said he wouldn’t be mad if I had my usual indulgence, but I felt it rather unfair to him.” Ivan explained as he saw Alfred look at the discarded pizza box if there was a still a slice in there. “And if you keep eating that unhealthy stuff dorogoy, I am going to have to make you a veggie burger when we get home.”

“Fine.” Alfred sulked.

“So what was he doing?” Natalya said hearing her brother in law’s pout in the background.

“Oh you know how active he is. It’s the only reason he has not gained as much weight as his diet would lead you to believe. But a broken leg limits what you can do.” Ivan began.

“He could just lift a lot of weights. Skip leg day as they say.” Natalya suggested.

“You know what six weeks of nothing but lifting weights and that like would cause a serious misbalance.” Ivan sighed. “Well I am sure we can find something. He does have to keep cardio up.”

“Don’t talk about me like I am not here!” Alfred yelled. Ivan smiled and turned to look out the window while he was speaking with Natalya. “So how was Moscow?”

“It was quite nice. I had seen the usual tourist spots but a few of the smaller museums Toris had known about. I found it a very interesting city. He had also taken me to one of Moscow’s famous ballet performances. It was beautiful.” Natalya said simply twirling her hair around her finger mindlessly.

“I have always said you could have gotten into a ballet company like that growing up mladshaya sestra” Ivan said as Natalya rolled her eyes.

“Maybe. You speak so highly of my talents.” Natalya sighed as she noticed Toris stirring. “Sometimes I do wonder if it does not blind you to the realities of some things.” She heard Ivan begin to object. “You never took ballet brother, so you do not know how vicious those girls can be to sabotaging each other or how much pressure you are under to be perfect. I quit when I was 16 because I could not stand it much anymore. I had brought a sandwich after school before a recital and many of those girls looked like I was a fat pig. They starved themselves and tried to figure out how many calories were in toothpaste. And the teacher said nothing to them. So I quit. Sorry if me not wanting to deal with anorexic bitches did not lead me on the plan you wanted for me.”

“Sorry.” Ivan apologized.

“Well now you know. I still have great respect for the art.” Natalya explained. “But I stopped practicing it in that studio. It’s not like I still don’t practice some of the stretches and the like. It is great exercise.” She heard Ivan agree. 

“Vanya, why do you have to keep talking to her? Come to bed.” Alfred moaned as he flipped through the channels trying to find something to watch while Ivan talked with Natalya.

“Why did you marry him?” Natalya sighed. She could accept that her husband loved men but of all the men on the planet it had to be Alfred F Jones. The man that she had heard many stories of their rivalry when she was in high school and he was in college in the summers. She had sarcastically told them to just fuck already but she didn’t think he would take it literally. She was just expressing her frustration that while she had just started high school, she heard nothing but how much Alfred annoyed him at the time.

“I know you don’t find his mannerisms charming like I do, but with love you cannot explain it.” Ivan said with a shrug.

“That’s something like what Toris’s father said….” Natalya noted as she noticed Toris wake up and rub his eyes, smiling at her. “You know we are coming back on the third?”

“Of course!” Ivan said jumping up. Shit, I cannot believe I forgot that was when she was coming in! “I will pick you up from the airport then.”

“I will let you know when we are leaving the airport and when to expect us.” Natalya told Ivan as he crawled into bed beside Alfred, who had given up on his search for late night television and had fallen asleep with a pillow over his eyes. “Have a good night’s sleep. Sounds like you will need it caring for your husband.”

“I am sure I will.” Ivan sighed. “Enjoy your day sister.” He said as he laid back.

“Same here. Good night.” With this Natalya hung up and looked around the room. Toris had gotten out of bed and headed into the bathroom. Hearing the shower start up, she laid on the bed and turned on the television. She skipped over the English speaking channels for the Russian ones and tried to listen to the weather report. Between the man who had called her a ‘Yankee bitch’ and how some of the locals looked at her when she spoke, she was getting concerned she was losing touch with the land of her birth, that her Russian was getting rusty. They had spoken it as the main language at home with their great uncle for that reason. I don’t sound much different than Katyusha or Vanya do when they speak the language at home…. she thought to herself when a realization hit her You were still very young when you left Russia. Looking over at the bathroom door, she thought to ask Toris what he thought of her Russian but shook her head against it. He won’t tell you the complete truth. He is sweet but gets like most men with their girlfriends or wives when they ask that type of question. She sighed as she picked out a simple outfit of blue jeans, a collared long sleeved shirt and black flat mary jane styled shoes and stood outside the door.

“Oh hello Natalya.” Toris blushed. He was standing there at the door in just a towel. She paused and blinked at him with the slightest blush appearing. “I forgot to bring a change of clothes with me in there. I hope you don’t mind.” He said growing redder himself.

“No….no…. it’s fine….” Natalya panted as she quickly headed into the bathroom. That came out of nowhere. Am I getting sick? We only shared because of necessity. Nothing happened! I am just a little tired waking up. Thinking too much too early. She assured herself as she turned on the water and began to use what shampoo was left to wash her hair. “The downside of a man with long hair. He needs more shampoo than normal.” She sighed as she washed up to start her day. 

“Gute Nacht euch beiden” Gilbert said as he waved Matthew and Katyusha off. “You are going to be on the evening segment, so I want you at the station at 3 tomorrow. We’ll get you set up and in and you’ll be good to go. We won’t put you doing interviews and investigations and such just yet. A little later. But you’ll be swell. Tell you Papa I said hi.” He said as he helped some of the film crew roll up the cables. “But seriously, get some beauty sleep. The make-up crew can hide a lot things but try not to make them demand more pay from me by having bags under your eyes. That’ll happen in a few months anyway.”

“Oooooohf!” Katyusha said as she grabbed her baby bump. “She’s got a powerful kick.”

“Well now, seems like we know who will be the boss here.” Gilbert waved. “Auf Wiedersehen!”

Matthew took a sip of the chicory coffee Katyusha had brought siting it was half the caffeine of coffee and she was trying to cut down for the baby and Matthew was trying to stay awake and energetic without needing to put back the amount of beer he did to balance out days where he lived off nothing but coffee. Gilbert had given the crew a glass of champagne and Katyusha some sparkling juice they had gotten quickly from the local 24-hour supermarket when she showed what Gilbert said was her Eastern European fire and said she was not going to consume alcohol while pregnant. “Reminds me of a girl I grew up with. Elizaveta scared me shitless….” Gilbert had told him. But after the what seemed like a long and quiet drive, he finally arrived at the house and undid his tie and laid down face first on the couch.

“All tuckered out my little telezirka” Katyusha smiled as she headed into the kitchen to make a cup of chamomile tea for the both of them. 

“You could say that. Having something like that be my introduction the viewing area, was nerve racking.” Matthew sighed with a slightly accomplished smile. “But I can tell you that I am sure Al was very surprised.”

“I am sure Vanya was as well. Neither one of them give you the credit you deserve. You are too rough on yourself at times.” Katyusha said as he placed a mug in his hands, helping him sit up. “I made this a little stronger than normal to help you sleep.” She moved a lock of his hair behind his ear and kissed him on the cheek. “She’s active again.” And with this Matthew placed his hand over her bump and smiled. “I should really get her into hockey before Al tries to get too involved.”

“Now now your brother isn’t that bad.” Katyusha said. “And you don’t need to live vicariously through our daughter. What if she would rather figure skate. I did want to do that when I was little but I was too well endowed to do so well….” With a yawn, Matthew gulped down the tea and headed back to the bedroom.

“I’m tired. I’m going to bed.” Matthew sighed as he undid his tie and tossed it on the ground. “I’ll get that tomorrow.” He sighed at Katyusha’s stare. 

“No, we are going to have to make this place very clean in the next few days. First of all, Vanya and Fredka are coming back on the second and the third, probably into the fourth knowing time differences and how long the flight is, is when Natalya and Toris are coming back. And Fredka was planning on doing a proper Russian Epiphany celebration with her and Vanya told me about his idea and offer.” Katyusha said as she sighed. She tossed the tie back to Matthew who headed back to the bedroom with her and laid down for the next day. 

Sunlight broke in the room, causing Matthew to wake up with a dry mouth and blurry vision. He rolled over and put his glasses on, noticing the that Katyusha was not there and that the time was nearly 11 in the morning. Shit! I did not mean to sleep this late! He thought as he quickly grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom to take a shower to find it occupied. Rolling his eyes, he found Katyusha standing there holding a mop and bucket with a bandana tied around her hair like she did when she felt it time to clean thoroughly. “Oh hey honey.” He said looking at her tired look. “Just needing to use the shower. I guess I slept in. I’m sorry.”

“I understand. I figured I would leave this house cleaner than when Vanya and Fredka left it.” Katyusha said. 

“Take it easy.” Matthew said as she headed out of the bathroom.

“Later. I will when you are on your broadcast. I will make you lunch while you shower.”

“Okay….” Matthew said as he looked at her concerned. It had seemed to him that she had not gotten much sleep and was working from very early hour trying to make the house clean. They didn’t cause that much of a mess, well the trash could be taken out and some of the food put on the list for when they went shopping again but it wasn’t a total disaster. The house smelled strongly of cleaning chemicals as Matthew went into the kitchen where Katyusha had a plate of kielbasa and pierogis placed out for him with a large glass of the cranberry apple juice that Alfred had gotten once to try and didn’t like but Matthew seemed to. 

“Eat hearty my darling.” Katyusha smiled. 

“Katy, don’t work yourself too hard. This house is cleaner than I had seen it in a long time. Not saying Al and Ivan are slobs but….” Matthew started.

“We are living here under their good graces. It is only proper I return the favor for them.” Katyusha insisted. “Now when am I to expect my darling husband home?”

“Gil had said something about 7 or 8 when all was said and done….” Matthew said. 

“Okay. I will have your favorite pancakes with real maple syrup and sausage ready for dinner tonight. Breakfast for dinner is rather unorthodox, but it is your favorite so that is what I will do for you when you get off. And I will be watching you.” Katyusha said as she kissed him on the cheek. “oof.”

“Baby kick again?” Matthew asked as he bit down on the potato dumpling she had made.

“Yes. She is quite active.” Katyusha smiled. 

Once Matthew had finished he put his laundry in the basket so that there would be nothing on the floor that she would need to pick up and headed out the door once his time came to head to work. It was rather busy getting started on his first day. First they had to take a few pictures and make sure he could read the script in a tone that would be pleasing to the audience. “Alright baby, show time.” Gilbert said as the clock stuck 5. Following the head anchor’s lead, Matthew took over and read what he was assigned to Don’t get nervous. Heck this is something Al doesn’t even have. This is yours and yours alone. They went though much the same for the 6 o’clock news and at the end of the evening, Gilbert called for the cuts for recording and he walked up to Matthew and smiled.

“You did good. Especially for your first day.” Gilbert said. 

“Thanks.” Matthew said with a smile. It felt rather good to have this and get that acknowledgement from people. Most all his life he could remember, it was Alfred who had gotten all the attention. Now here he was doing well in something that would be noticed well. People would mistake Alfred for him not the other way around and his more selfish side loved that idea.

“Now go home and tell that lovely wife of yours what I said.” Gilbert said,

With his boss’s encouragement, Matthew came home to see Katyusha curled up on the couch with a few pillows on her back. He could tell she was in pain and it was bothering her bad. “Are you okay?” He asked. “Maybe you should have not cleaned so much today.”

“I don’t know Matvey, this doesn’t feel like my typical I worked too hard type of back pain. This is sort of different. I also feel a little sick.” Katyusha saw her husband’s face fall. “You were so lovely on the news today.”

“We can talk about that later.” Matthew said, worry for his wife and child overcoming him. “I’m taking you to the doctor.” 

“Matvey I- “Katyusha began.

“Need this because if you don’t the baby might be hurt.”

“But how do you know I didn’t overwork myself?” Katyusha asked. She did not want to leave the house or go to the hospital unless she needed to and she didn’t feel like she needed to.

“Call it Paternal instinct.” Matthew said as he carried her to the car and laid in the backseat so she would have more room to lay and drove to the hospital.

Translation Guide:

Obtained via Google Translate:

Dorogoy-Russian-darling  
mladshaya sestra-Russian-Little sister  
Gute Nacht euch beiden” –German- Good night you two  
Auf Wiedersehen-German-Goodbye  
Telezirka-Ukrainian-television star

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don’t know how fast I can update the way life is right now but I will try to. Anyway remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	21. Chapter 21

I do not own Hetalia okay? I am so surprised at the response this story has gotten. Frankly I am really humbled by it. Anyway, I don’t have much else to say, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

The next day was the end of the vacation for Alfred and Ivan as they checked out and headed home. Alfred was still getting used to having to walk on crutches and just living daily life with a broken leg. The day before Ivan had researched everything he could to make life easier. Luckily we both work from home most of the time so I won’t have to worry about him driving every day and I can take care of him. Ivan thought, knowing it was a hassle just getting him to put on his clothes. Ivan had taken Alfred to the local department store for a few pairs of sweatpants, but Alfred sulked they had to get ones in bigger size than he normally wore. Ivan had just rolled his eyes at this. “It is so it can get over your cast. You are not spending 6 weeks without pants or even underwear, especially with your brother and my sister in the house. Even if it was just us, you would not do that.” One thing that happened was when there was a blow to Alfred’s ego is that all of his sensitivities came flooding out. And this one was the body insecurity. 

However, Alfred had gotten used to the cast and having to hobble around. Ivan had made sure to give him space but at the same time be ready for when he was inevitably going to need help. He had packed all their bags in the car before he came to help Alfred while they finished checking out so the burden would be less on both of them. “Alright dorogoy,” Ivan smiled as he turned off the television. “Do you have everything you need?” He said as he handled Alfred his crutches and helped him up. 

“Yeah, I got it.” Alfred said as he slung the fanny pack Ivan gave him to keep his wallet and his phone in while he had sweatpants on. “This thing is ugly.”

“But practical because your pants don’t have pockets.” Ivan said with his smile that was a subtle way of saying ‘shut up and stop complaining’. “I know how you have a tendency to misplace things.” Alfred took the dated but practical fashion accessory and slung it over his shoulder as he hobbled placing the crutches under his armpits and moved along slowly.

“These hurt….” Alfred said as he walked out the door with Ivan following behind him. 

“You’ll get used to it. Besides, there are not many situations where you will use them long.” Ivan smiled as he headed to the front desk and Alfred hobbled onto the couch in the entrance way and laid out while Ivan handled the checkout process. He laid back and sighed. It had seemed simple enough in the hospital when they put the cast on. But as it now was proving to be this would bother him long after the initial injury. Already he was noticing an itch where his leg was sweating against the cast. It’s cold as balls and I sweat. And I know that if Katy is cold he won’t mind the heat bill and crank it up because she’s pregnant. At this Ivan stood in front of him and held out a crutch, “Here, let me help you up.” Alfred smiled as Ivan helped him to the car. 

Meanwhile, Matthew had paced around the house worried. He had taken Katyusha to the hospital the night before but after sitting for hours in the emergency room, having no clue what was going on. He just noted the doctors and nurses taking Katyusha’s vitals and samples of blood and ultrasounds. It was late by the time they had the results and the older doctor who was on duty simply said, “We will have to keep your wife overnight Mr. Williams. Come back when visiting hours are to start.” He said to him as he pushed Matthew out of the way and out of the emergency room. Luckily Katyusha had her phone and had text Matthew what the doctors were doing. Mentioned something about preeclampsia. From that he had spent most of the night looking up the issue. She is nowhere near the time to deliver the baby. That’s not for what, 3 or 4 more months. Could she lose the child? We’re past the 16-week mark that many say is the highest risk for miscarriage…. oh god….is this the price the fates want me to pay for getting this job? He kept moving his finger through his contacts. He was wondering if he should call someone. He held his finger over Arthur’s number, then Francis’s, Alfred’s number, even considered calling Ivan for a moment, even though he feared that somehow it would be Matthew’s fault in his mind. He also saw it was 4 in the morning. I had better try and get some sleep…. He tried to sleep but he kept having dreams of Katyusha crying kept waking him up. “It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine, she’s in the hospital so they can treat whatever happens” He told himself after being awoken from each dream. He finally gave up and watched television until it was time for visitors and her headed over to visit her. At the hospital he was directed to her room and he came in, holding a cup of coffee.

“You haven’t slept a wink.” Katyusha said first thing, moving aside her breakfast the hospital had given her. 

“Have you?” Matthew asked.

“A little. They did a lot of tests and are going to check again this morning and tell me what the results are. One of the nurses was very nice and explained it. It isn’t horrible. It may inconvenience a few things, but it is not that bad.” Katyusha said.

“Katy, I know that you downplay a lot of your sickness and injury to make me think you are fine.” Matthew rolled his eyes. 

“Well I will let the doctor decide for us how worried to be.” Katyusha replied. “Want some of my fruit?” She offered. “You look like you haven’t eaten.”

“I had a breakfast Al would be proud of. Got a Sausage McGriddle on the way over here because I know you’ll kill me for not sleeping but it’d be worse if I didn’t eat.”

“Oh hello Mr. Williams.” The doctor said as he came in. “I can tell you and your wife together. You have Gestational hypertension, high blood pressure.” The doctor added at the expression on their face “And you have preeclampsia. It can happen to anyone before you blame yourself. But you are older than most women are with their first child. Do you know if there is a family history of it?”

“Not that I am aware of. I do remember mother being in bed a lot with my little sister.” Katyusha said.

“And given you are from Russia and the timeframe of that, I doubt any real attention would have been paid….” He said dismissively. “But the good news is that it is mild and thanks to your husband taking you to the ER last night, we were able to diagnose it. I am putting you on bedrest and a few medications for a few weeks. You will then come back and we will make sure that nothing is wrong with your blood pressure and development. I stress you take my words seriously as this may cause worse complications later like premature birth.”

“I see.” Katyusha nodded.

“I will get everything ready and you will be able to go home today. Although you shouldn’t move much from bed. Only to go to the bathroom.” He said noting a few things on the chart.

“But my sister is coming back tomorrow, and I have to- “Katyusha started

“Stay in bed.” Matthew and the doctor said at the same time. 

“Relax we can get Al and Ivan to handle most of the housework and I will do a lot myself too.” Matthew said.

“But Fredka broke his leg, remember?”

“Well, Ivan will be more than happy to help in this situation. Don’t think a thing of it.” Matthew said.

“Sounds like you have a very helpful family network to fall back on Mrs. Williams. Use it and they can have a very healthy new baby.” The doctor sighed. “I’ll finish my discharge paperwork and you can go then.” 

Alfred and Ivan pulled back into the driveway of the house when Alfred perked up. “Mattie’s car is gone.” He noted looking at his watch, knowing he was on the day before at the 5 and 6 o’clock segments. He was proud of Matthew doing as well as he did and planned to find some way to tell him. How, he wasn’t quite sure, but he wanted to let his brother know that he did have a good way on television. But at the same time, he couldn’t let him off easy. It was just his way of bonding with his brother. They had always been that way.

“Maybe he had to go to work?” Ivan suggested.

“At 10 in the morning?” Alfred asked looking at his watch.

“Maybe?” Ivan said. “I don’t know much about how a news anchor’s schedule would be.”

“Neither do I. Oh well Katy will be able to tell us more. She seemed really happy on TV at the New Year’s Eve thing.” Alfred noted as Ivan turned off the car and grabbed the crutches. He opened the door and moved awkwardly around while Ivan stood beside the vehicle, waiting to help Alfred whenever he thought he needed it. 

“She hardly ever had anything in the spotlight. So, getting to press that button for that stupid marshmallow must have been very exciting for her.” Ivan noted. He caught Alfred as he hobbled to get the crutches under his arms. 

“This is going to take some getting used to.” Alfred said as he hobbled into the house. Ivan followed as he looked around. It seemed empty. Very clean but empty. A half-prepared meal of pancakes and sausage was sitting on the table. He looked around and it felt quiet. “Something seems off….”

“Da.” Ivan nodded. “I’ll call Katyusha.”

“I’ll call Mattie.” Alfred said as he flopped onto the couch and dialed his brother while Ivan dialed his sister. 

As they pulled into the driveway, Katyusha and Matthew noticed their phones ringing. They pulled up their phones and as Matthew said “Al,” Katyusha said “Vanya…” Matthew hit ignore as Katyusha pressed answer. “Katy, we’re here.”

“I’ll tell you what happened soon. Be patient Vanya.” Katyusha said curtly as she got out of the car and headed back into the house. Ivan stood confused at his sister’s response, a response he’d expect out of his younger sister, but not his older. As he looked at the phone confused, Katyusha came into the house with a slight look of tired disappointment and headed into the bedroom to lay down. Matthew came in behind them and saw Alfred and Ivan’s confused faces. 

“Oh, hi guys.” Matthew said. “Okay, so what happened is that Katy felt off and we went to the hospital. Long story short she has preeclampsia and prescribed bedrest for a few weeks to see if this helps and if it improves, she will be released to lighter duty. It’s not so bad they won’t let her go to the bathroom, but they don’t want her moving much other than that.”

“Why the attitude though?” Alfred asked. “It’s not like her.”

“I guess it’s just because she is a little disappointed, she would just be a lump in the house she’s a guest at. I mean I told her she didn’t have to purge this place before you guys got back but she insisted.” Matthew said.

“Well, it is a medical issue, I could never fault my sister for that.” Ivan said as he headed to the bedroom, they slept in to talk to her. “Katyusha?” He asked knocking on the door. 

“Who is it?” She said with a note of remorse.

“It’s your brother.” Ivan said.

“Oh. Come in.” She said. He noticed her lying away from him on her left side. 

“Are you sad? Why are you not looking at me?” Ivan said.

“The doctor said the left side is the best to lay on for periods of time.” Katyusha said. There was a pause between the two. “Why me Vanya?”

“Huh?” He asked.

“Why can’t my pregnancy be smooth? Was it because of something Matvey or I did? Was working very early on bad? Did he make the gods mad when he got this job? I feel like such a burden already. You are already taking care of Fredka with his broken leg, Matvey has his job and can’t be here all the time and such. This will be a mess!” She cried into the pillow.

“It will not.” Ivan assured her. “Just follow the doctor’s treatment and us men can handle keeping this house up. You will remember that Fredka and I have cleaned it well enough on our own. A woman’s touch isn’t required.” Realizing he may have accidently insulted his sister who was feeling bad enough on her own, he added, “Not that you haven’t been wonderful since you and Matvey moved in. But we can handle this. Just worry about getting better for the best health you can give your daughter before she is born.” Ivan smiled assuring her. She rolled over and hugged him tightly. 

“I’m sorry. I was being silly.” She cried into his chest. “But it will be so boring here in bed unless I have to go to the bathroom. And I won’t be able to meet Natalya at the airport when she comes in.”

“She’ll understand. If she doesn’t, I’ll smack her with one of my crutches.” Alfred said as he hobbled along to help Katyusha feel better. She laughed at his comment while Ivan rolled his eyes at his husband and little sister’s indifference. “I’ll have Mattie put a TV and DVD player in here. I will let you have my PlayStation in here too if you want. Just don’t mess up my worlds.” He quickly said as he sat down on the bed as best, he could without disturbing her. “I can’t stand too long with those things chafing my armpits.”

“You have to take it easy too Fredka.” Katyusha said looking at him.

“It’s a broken bone.” Alfred said. “It will grow back and worse comes to worse I have to do more leg work in the spring. You’re going to have a baby. You need to take care of yourself like they tell you to make sure she grows up healthy.”

“Very good advice.” Ivan sighed Now if you follow it, is another story…. 

“Thank you two so much. You’ve done so much for us already that I could never hope to repay you.” Katyusha replied wiping away tears. 

“Just let me teach your little girl how to play baseball when she gets old enough.” Alfred said as Katyusha giggled.

“No, I am teaching her hockey Al. And that’s final.” Matthew said as Alfred looked at him. “Besides, weren’t you and Ivan talking about adopting? I’ll teach your kid hockey when you teach my girl baseball.” Alfred swung one of his crutches at Matthew who grabbed it and moved it aside. Ivan and Katyusha rolled their eyes at their husband’s antics. “But I heard your offer Al and yeah, I’ll put in a TV and the like for her, so she’s not bored to death.” 

“And so, I can see you each night.” Katyusha smiled. “Most handsome anchor ever.” Ivan giggled as Alfred rolled his eyes. 

“Now rest my darling.” Matthew said as he kissed her on the forehead and Ivan helped Alfred up to head out and let her rest. “I’ll come back with the television and maybe a game system for you. I mean they can play DVDs.”

“You know I am not into video games, but I do find Fredka’s offer adorable.” Katyusha said.

“Well, I have wanted to play a few myself but like hell Al will let me touch his. His offer shows how much he cares for you. It’s only him and his friend Kiku from the business department of his company that he lets touch them.” 

“Your brother has a big heart and is very playful. He’ll do great with a child of his own and looking after ours as well. “Katyusha said. “If you feel you must get a set up like that for me, fine. But when you are done, please join me for a nap. I know I hardly slept, and you did not at all.” 

“I’ll be back soon and have it set up quickly.” Matthew assured her. 

“But don’t be late for work. If you are running late, just let Vanya or Fredka do what they can.” 

“It’s Friday. I have tomorrow off. I can stay awake long enough to make it through. No one will know. I got through lots of things living off maple coffee.” Matthew replied as he kissed her.

“As much as everyone is fussing over me, I want you to stay healthy too.” Katyusha said. “Our daughter needs a healthy dad as much as a healthy mom.”

“Rest up.” Matthew said with a blush as he headed out. He shut the door behind him as Katyusha lay back and made herself comfortable. She picked up the book she had been reading and tried to read but it didn’t grab her attention. Feeling bad she couldn’t see her sister when she came back, she looked at the time and thought to herself. It’s about 11 here…. It wouldn’t be a late hour where she is. Katyusha picked up her phone and dialed her younger sister. 

“Hello?” Natalya moaned as she was stirred awake. 

“What is it?” Toris said as he looked over at her.

“Oh, did I wake you little sister?” Katyusha said.

“No, no it’s fine.” Natalya replied.

“It’s only like 8 in the evening there, correct?” Katyusha said with worry.

“Yes, but our flight leaves pretty early in the morning. There’s security and everything to deal with as well.” Natalya said. Sensing her sister was being overly sensitive again, she recovered, “But I was reading that there are more checkpoints at some of these airports for US bound flights so you may have done us a favor.”

“Well, I wanted to tell you I won’t be seeing you at the airport and before you go back to college. I mean you were going to have us drop you and Toris back off at your dorms correct?” Katyusha said.

“Yes, why won’t you be seeing us?” Natalya asked suspiciously.

“I had to go to the hospital for a pregnancy issue and they put me on bedrest. I can only get up to use the bathroom.” Katyusha said. “But Vanya, Fredka and Matvey seem very protective of me. I mean Fredka even offered to let me use his PlayStation and Matvey told me how much he loves that.”

“A grown man still plays games like child.” Natalya said.

“I sometimes play Grand Theft Auto….” Toris said.

“But you’re still in college.” Natalya dismissed him.

“Well, he says his best friend at the business department of his workplace plays with him often on weekends.” Katyusha added noting Natalya’s ‘ppppft’ of dismissal. “He’s from Japan and you know how the Japanese are in business.”

“Well, he’s from Japan and probably has a body pillow of some anime girl.” Natalya said.

“That’s rude!” Katyusha corrected.

“Well that aside, Toris and I will help you and Matvey until the semester starts back again. It must be just awful with Alfred and Matthew having to look after you and I do not want to cause Vanya more stress looking after you and that crippled husband of his.” Natalya said.

“You really do not like Fredka much do you?” Katyusha sighed.

“No.” Natalya said simply. “Vanya could have done much better.”

“It’s about his heart that matters.” Katyusha said sternly as Natalya rolled his eyes. 

“For your sake I will keep down the arguments on my end with him. I cannot say for him but if he starts something….” Natalya began.

“I can imagine Vanya will stop that.” Katyusha said. “Thank you for the offer.”

“It is my duty as your sister.” Natalya replied.

“And do not forsake your studies. I did with mine so you and Vanya could go to college and I will never forgive you if you do the same for me.” Katyusha said.

“You’ll do fine as a mother.” Natalya said. “But I will be there with Toris so you can rest easy for a little bit.” She heard Katyusha start to object. “No buts. I will do this for you. Enough said. Now rest!” She said hanging up. 

“What did you volunteer us for?” Toris asked timidly.

“We will be staying at my brother’s for a few days before heading back to campus. I need to help take care of my sisters.” Natalya said.

“Doesn’t she have her husband and your brother and his husband?” He asked.

“She deserves some decent care.” Natalya said. “Now let’s get some rest. We must get to the airport early to get through security. And I thought it was bad in the United States….” She groaned. 

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don’t know how fast I can update the way life is right now but I will try to. Anyway remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	22. Chapter 22

I do not own Hetalia okay? I am so surprised at the response this story has gotten. Frankly I am really humbled by it. Anyway, I don’t have much else to say, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

“You did not have to do this for us Mr. and Mrs. Laurinaitis” Natalya said as she headed to pick her suitcase from the trunk. She had just planned on calling a cab to take her and Toris to the airport and let his parents sleep, but they had insisted on seeing the two off. 

“Save you college kids some cab fare” Mr. Laurinaitis laughed as he took Natalya’s bag out of the trunk and pulled it behind him into the airport with Natalya trying to grab it as they headed to the check bag desk. “You may have to spend it on airport food but I figured I’d help you out.”

“That is quite thoughtful Mr. Laurinaitis.” Natalya bowed. Once Mrs. Laurinaitis had finished hugging Toris and turned to Natalya and gave her a book. She looked up at Toris’s mother confused. 

“Oh this is all of my own personal recopies with some of Toris’s favorites as well. They boy is so smitten with you and you seem to like him a lot too. And here is this, I didn’t have it quite ready at Christmas but I finished it while you two were having your little road trip. At this she handed Natalya a gift bag.

Natalya looked down at it and pulled out the hand knit sweater. “This is very thoughtful” She said with a blush. I had not expected Toris’s family to take such a liking to me. 

“Well I already gave my little Toris his.” Mrs. Laurinaitis said as she grabbed her son’s cheek.

“Mother!” He pleaded as he placed his bags to be checked on the counter. “Not in front of Natalya.” 

“Oh you are 23 and embarrassed by your mother. How cute.” Mrs. Laurinaitis said. “I haven’t flown in a while but I some of our friends have and they have told me it gets pretty cold on the plane, even if it is the summer time. One of our friends went to Las Vegas Nevada last summer. Didn’t win big but they also did not pack any coats thinking it was going to be so hot they didn’t think of the plane.” She laughed as they headed to the security checkpoint. 

“Well. I thank you for thinking of me as such.” Natalya said as she tied it around her waist. “I actually layer up myself for that reason.” 

“She thinks ahead.” Mr. Laurinaitis laughed nudging Toris. “Natalya is a keeper son.”

“Dad!” Toris said as they headed to the security gate blushing. 

“Thank you so much for everything Mr. and Mrs. Laurinaitis.” Natalya bowed as they waved back.

“Let us know when you get back safe you two!” Mrs. Laurinaitis said.

“Doesn’t matter the time difference! I want to know you are okay!” Mr. Laurinaitis said.

“I will do Dad!” Toris said as him and Natalya headed through security and to their gate to await their flight. Once they had approached the waiting area for their gate, Toris sat down and held his backpack close to him as he fell asleep. Nataya rolled her eyes as the smell of a coffee shop opening up for the day wafted to her nose and she headed over to buy her and Toris something to eat before they headed on the plane. Looking of the itinerary of their flight, they were to stop over in Frankfort before heading to Chicago then back to the airport they had left from. Stupid having to go to Chicago before we head to home…. Natalya thought as she sipped her coffee and took a bite of the egg and cheese breakfast sandwich she had gotten. She nudged Toris awake.

“Huh….” He asked as he looked over at Natalya. “Talya….” He moaned.

“I got you something to eat. It’s an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee.” She said with an almost imperceptible smile.

“Thank you Talya.” Toris said as he took the bag and cup from her.

“Can you please stop calling me that.” Natalya sighed slightly. “It’s only slightly less annoying that what my brother in law calls me when he isn’t trying to piss me off.”

“Which one? Alfred or Matthew?” Toris asked.

“Alfred.” Natalya bit her breakfast sandwich fiercely at his name. “I hate being called Nattie. Just….” She shuddered. “Sounds like I never bathe or something like that. Then again I don’t think he is afraid of me like Matthew is.” 

“Maybe he is just trying to be friendly and thinks you’re being hostile to him.” Toris said. “But I could be wrong.” He added trying to soothe her. 

“Maybe. And if I really should try to not piss him off so much. I mean as much as I hate that Vanya loves him,” She began.

“Your brother loves him.” Toris said. “You can’t help who you fall in love with and you can’t help who your brother falls in love with.”

“Guess not.” Natalya sighed. She looked at her phone and saw the time. “It should be around 10 pm their time. Our flight doesn’t leave for another hour. I could call them and let them know we are heading out.” Before Toris could reply, she hit call on the house phone and tapped her foot.

“Phone’s ringing!” Matthew yelled from the kitchen. He was making a late night snack for Katyusha when it began to ring.

“Who could be calling at this hour?” Ivan said as he knew the voice in the back of his head. Natalya’s flight back to America is leaving today and it is very early in the morning in Lithuania. He remembered. “Pryviet” Ivan said as he picked up the landline phone. Why do we still even have this? 

“Oh hello big brother.” Natalya said as she sipped her coffee. “Just calling to let you know Toris and I are leaving Lithuania soon. Our flight leaves in an hour. The itinerary has a few layovers one in Germany and the other in Chicago. To think I must head west to go east….” She said with some disdain.

“Well some flights to places like Lithuania are like that baby sister.” Ivan said as he stood by the wall watching Matthew cooking boxed Macaroni and cheese. He looked at him curiously when Matthew said under his breath, “Katy was having a craving for this” and Ivan nodded in understanding. 

“I guess you are right.” Natalya said. Thinking of what Toris said, “How is Alfred and Katyusha doing? She called and told me about what happened.” She added before Ivan could ask how she knew. 

“She’s adjusting okay to being on bedrest. Matvey has a television set up in there. She loves seeing him on the news now that he’s got that anchor job and Fredka had Matvey get her a game system with a few games. So he got her that Nintendo switch and a few Pokémon games and that new Animal Crossing one….” Ivan mused as he heated up a tea kettle to make some hot chocolate for Alfred before he went to sleep. He was going to have to get back to work now the holidays were over and Ivan still had an Epiphany to plan. He told Alfred he would handle everything, seeing as Alfred’s leg was broken and he was going to get the recopies from Katyusha and cook it himself. Matthew did help to keep things going in the house but he did have to leave for work and was gone most of the afternoon. So it was up to Ivan to make sure that Alfred didn’t make his injury worse and Katyusha didn’t get stir crazy. That is why he didn’t say anything to Alfred about getting the gaming system for Katyusha. It was something that could keep her from indeed going stir crazy and finding some way to violate the doctor’s orders.

“Well yes, Katyusha would find those games cute….” Natalya sighed. “I guess it was thoughtful on Alfred’s part.” Vanya loves him. He sounds like he is having a hard enough time when Matthew is at work…. She told herself. “Oh and Toris and I will stay with you until it is time to head back to Campus next week.”

“WHAT?” Ivan yelled. 

“Is there a problem Vanya?” Natalya asked.

“No, just surprising is all. I don’t know about the room we have but we can find something for you….” Ivan panicked. God, I can see at least some of Fredka’s annoyance with Natalya’s attitude. 

“We won’t take up too much room. The couches will work.” Natalya said as Toris looked at her with a nervous smile. “Unless there is an issue with that guest room Matthew and Alfred’s parents stayed at.”

“No, may be a little messy is all. We moved some extra things in there when Matthew and Katyusha moved in.” Ivan said nervously. 

“That will be fine. I want to make sure Katyusha is fine and that you are not overwhelmed before I have to go back to school. I would stay longer but Katyusha scolded me thinking about it even.” Natalya said.

“Well I would say so.” Ivan said as he turned the heat down on the stove as the teapot started to whistle. “She made sure that you and I were taken care of during our schooling that she wants you to do well.” 

“I know; I know….” Natalya said. So I should be in around midnight local time. So in factoring time difference, it would be 5pm tomorrow or so. I’ll call you when I hit Chicago as that would be easier to figure.”

“Sure. I will be able to pick you and Toris up.” Ivan said as Natalya hung up and he sighed placing his forehead against the cabinet. 

“Everything alright Ivan?” Matthew asked as he put the cheese powder in the macaroni as to the directions on the box.

“Natalya and Toris are being so generous as to help us before they will need to go back to campus after the Epiphany.” Ivan sighed as he poured the hot chocolate.

“Sounds nice of them….” Matthew began knowing there was more to it. “It will be very busy with them around.”

Ivan nodded. “I do not want Natalya to cause a fight with Fredka like she does sometimes.” Ivan sighed. “It’s hard enough with him injured, work and this holiday we said we’d have. Before I was planning on having Katyusha help, especially with the cooking and such as she is very good at it but now….”

“Well I’ll have Katy get me the list we need for the food and I’ll pick it up on the way home from work.” Matthew said.

“Please.” Ivan said rubbing his temple. “I may need you to get me some vodka too,” At this, the phone rang again. “Can you get that? If it’s Natalya, I am not here.”

“No.” Matthew said. “Papa.”

“You handle it.” Ivan sighed as he took the hot chocolate and headed up to the bedroom to make sure that Alfred took his medication and was comfortable. “Why did I think that trip was a good idea?”

“How could you have known Al would actually break his leg and even if you were thinking it might, how did you know this would happen to Katy?” Matthew shrugged. He picked up the phone. “Hello Papa.” Matthew sighed. 

“’ello Mathieu!” Francis said. “How was your New Years. Sorry I am late on calling you but I saw it and was so proud of you! And despite my misgivings Miss Katyusha was beautiful. The dress she picked really did suit her.”

“Told you Papa.” Matthew said as he spooned the creation into a bowl. It may have been a simple box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, the kind he loved in college when he had a chance to use a pot, although he had lived off a lot of microwave versions that just looked funny when he had added the cheese powder. Katyusha had not been so passionate about the dish herself but was more than willing to eat it. However recently she had taken a strong craving to the simple dish and had even demanded Matthew make it when he had gotten home from work that day. 

“Well I should trust you more. She is your wife after all. How is Miss Katyusha doing?” Francis Inquired.

“Okay.” Matthew led as he walked into the bedroom and placed the tray with the macaroni and cheese on her lap. She smiled as Matthew sat down beside her and looked at the game screen she had paused. “She has taken a craving to Marconi and cheese.”

“Like you loved as a kid.” Francis said with a memory. “And you would never eat the good stuff I made from scratch. No you had to have the cheap boxed stuff.”

“That was the kind she requested.” Matthew sighed laying back. Katyusha took a bite and smiled at Matthew. 

“Thank you so much. Who is on the phone?” She whispered. 

“Papa.” Matthew said back. 

“Well if she is craving that, then I can assure you that is your daughter.” Francis sighed. “You boys were adopted but you still have times that make me wonder with your tastes. You are not as bad as Alfred is sometimes but when you declared your love of Poutine at that family trip to Niagara Falls…. I wonder….” 

“It has a French name Papa.” Matthew said, knowing he was going to annoy him. 

“That’s how Alfred justifies his love of Cajun to me.” Francis said.

“But you like some of that.” Matthew teased.

“I will neither confirm nor deny.” Francis said. “So how is Katyusha?”

“On bedrest by doctor’s orders. Had some signs of preeclampsia and they think if she stays on bedrest for a few weeks it won’t be so bad.” Matthew said as he heard Francis and Arthur who was listening in the background gasp.

“Don’t fret you two. I am taking the doctor’s orders seriously and Vanya and Matthew are being so helpful. Even Fredka and he broke his leg.” Katyusha said.

“What happened?” Arthur asked.

“Snowboard trick gone wrong. Simple fracture, makes moving around a pain.” Matthew said. 

“Well that does it.” Francis said. 

“THAT DOES WHAT?” Katyusha, Matthew and Arthur all said at the same time in shock.

“I will head up there tomorrow after work and help you out until I can feel that Katyusha has nothing to worry about.” Francis declared. 

“I am not heading up there Frog, at least not right now like you are. You may be able to abandon your post like that but I cannot. The new semester starts Monday and I cannot just up and leave because my daughter in law has a slightly complicated pregnancy. Do not think I am dismissing what you must be feeling Miss Katyusha.”

“No, no, I understand. Natalya and Toris said they would stay until they had to go back to campus much around the same time your new semester starts. Fredka and Vanya both work from home most of the time so they can help me if I were to need it if Matvey is at work himself. You and Francis still have your own lives. We will make sure the baby is healthy so you can spoil her as soon as she’s born.” Katyusha said. 

“If my little Alfred hadn’t broken his leg, I may have thought the same as you mon amor.” Francis said. “Besides I have interests there I want to check on. Au revior!” Francis then ran to pack a bag, leaving the phone on the kitchen table. 

“Looks like nothing can stop him.” Arthur replied. He then yelled at Francis. “If you must impose on the boys then would you please wait until you get off work tomorrow! I would think they would want to know what the head chef is doing.”

“Of course I was planning to do that then.” Francis said. “It will take me time to get packed. Do you seriously think I am that irresponsible as to not make the proper arrangements at work?” Francis asked. 

“Yes. I do.” Arthur said to himself. “I am very, very very sorry for what this may cause.”

“That’s alright Dad.” Matthew said as he hung up the phone. “Fuck.”

“Oh dear.” Katyusha said. Matthew did not swear as freely as Alfred did so for him to do so, meant it was going to be bad. 

“Ivan was already exhausted at the prospect of Natalya and Toris staying in the other room. But to add my Papa in on this when he’s already planning Epiphany and taking care of Al….” Matthew snapped his fingers. “I will need you to get me together a list of things he’ll need to make the things for the celebration, Katy.” Katyusha nodded and took a notebook from beside the bed. “I’ll get it after work tomorrow.” She nodded as Matthew got up. “Now to tell Ivan the good news.”

“Good luck.” Katyusha sighed. 

“Going to need it.” Matthew sighed as he headed to the living room. Ivan was sitting on the couch watching the weather report. He took this as his chance to talk to him. “So, whatcha watching?” He asked.

“Weather forecast for tomorrow.” Ivan said as he sipped a glass of vodka. “Tomorrow afternoon Fredka and I will go meet Natalya and Toris at the airport.”

He knew about the declaration his sister had made earlier and it was not going to be pleasant when he said what Francis was going to do. He knew he would have more patience with Natalya than he would Francis but even then, there seemed to be waning limits in this. “Looks like they should make it in safely.” Matthew said casually.

“No storms over North America.” Ivan sighed. “I haven’t looked from Lithuania to Germany then Germany to Chicago.” Ivan said as he sipped his drink.

“Take it there’s a lot of changes in flights.” Matthew noted and Ivan simply nodded. “So how is Al doing?”

“Getting better. Getting used to having the cast and such on.” Ivan lay back. “He’s asleep now, the medications they have him on help him heal make him drowsy.”

“So, ummmmmm….. you know Francis called…..” Matthew began.

“Yes?” Ivan asked, looking over at Matthew cautiously, gripping his glass tighter.

“Well he found out about Katy’s condition and Al’s as well and wants to come up to help.” Matthew said “He will be leaving after work tomorrow.” 

“Chert voz'mi, teper' vse slishkom pomogayut. Katyushe nuzhen pokoy.” Ivan sighed.

“So if that meant what I think it was, you are just seeing how chaotic all this can get especially when Al can’t do as much as he’d like but more importantly this will just increase the stress on Katy when she doesn’t need it.” Matthew said as Ivan nodded. 

“Natalya and Toris have the other guest room. Francis, well he’s on his own. If he wants to stay here, best he is getting is the pull out sofa. That Frog can take it or leave it.” Ivan sighed as he poured himself another glass of vodka. “Besides, I know when Natalya and Toris are leaving. Francis. I don’t know. Did he say?”

“He’ll miss Dad after a while.” Matthew said as Ivan looked curiously at him. “It’s their way. And Dad’s staying behind understanding Katy is not dying and needs peace. He won’t forsake the start of a new semester unless someone was dying. And Katy being on short bedrest and Al breaking a leg aren’t emergencies to him.”

“Oh when you go shopping for the items for Epiphany that Katyusha tells you, please add a bottle of vodka or two. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”

“I’ll need me something too.” Matthew sighed. “No offense, vodka isn’t my thing and I won’t touch Al’s liquor without permission.”

“Why are my in-laws so nuts?” Ivan said.

“I’d tell you if I knew.” Matthew replied, causing Ivan to smile.

“I’m heading to bed. Tomorrow will be busy.” Ivan sighed. 

Translation Guide:

(Obtained via google translate)

Chert voz'mi, teper' vse slishkom pomogayut. Katyushe nuzhen pokoy.- Russian- goddamnit everyone is being too helpful now. Katyusha needs peace.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don’t know how fast I can update the way life is right now but I will try to. Anyway remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	23. Chapter 23

I do not own Hetalia okay? Like I said before, I am so surprised at the response this story has gotten. Frankly I am really humbled by it. Makes my day when I am about to scream from all the work I have had lately. Try studying while pulling 50 hour shifts too…. This is what I do to help self-care. Anyway, I don’t have much else to say, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Ivan woke up early the next day. He could tell the medication that Alfred had been put on made him drowsier than normal and made him sleep longer. As he sat up to begin his day, Alfred stirred and rubbed his eyes. “Long time no see Vanya.” Alfred laughed.

“How can you be so cheerful this early in the morning?” Ivan asked.

“I guess when I get more sleep maybe?” Alfred sat up, taking care not to bump his leg. He had been getting better moving around in it. “So today’s the day that Natalya comes in. I guess it will be you and me picking her and Toris up. Are they going to a hotel or campus or what? I never asked that much?” He reached for the medications and the bottle of water he had beside the bed. “Easier to remember to take these here.”

He needs to know. Better now than have it be a total surprise. “Nyet, they will not be staying there.” Ivan began.

“Well where are they?” Alfred asked. “I mean Natalya can be a bitch sometimes but she doesn’t need to be stuck at the airport until god knows when.” 

Ivan sighed. At least he isn’t wishing her ill. Baby steps “No Fredka. Apparently she talked to Katyusha about her condition and is going to stay here for a few days until the new semester starts.” 

“Lovely. Well I can get an early start on some assignments for work they want done here soon.” Alfred sighed. 

“I don’t know if you will have time for that….” Ivan said looking away. 

“Why? I mean I am sure you are busy too at work and you’re not as relaxed as I am about things and you got those Epiphany plans we’re working on too….” Alfred ran off tapping his finger with his other hand, listing off objections.

“Because your papa called last night and found out about Katyusha’s condition and despite your dad, Matthew and Katyusha’s objections is coming up here today too once he gets off work.” Ivan let out a disappointed sigh. 

“And I am sure he won’t let me be.” Alfred moaned as he laid back on the bed with a sigh. “Well let me know when we’re going to get Nattie and Toris from the airport. I may not be able to keep up with you like normal but I do want to offer good wishes to them when they come back. Especially since Katy can’t do so herself.”

Ivan smiled. He loved the fact his husband was trying to play nice with his younger sister, even if he got the impression she didn’t like Alfred too much for marrying him. It showed that Alfred valued the relationship Ivan had with his sister and was at least, if nothing else, trying to look past their dislike of each other. “I will let you know when I am getting ready to head out.”

“I can put my good sweatpants on.” Alfred laughed. 

“That you can.” Ivan laughed. “Do you need me to help you into the shower still?”

“Nah,” Alfred said. “Since you put that bar in, it makes balancing a lot easier. I feel like an old coot in some aspects.”

“It’s just to help you until you are back to normal my podsolnukh” Ivan smiled.

“I know I know….” Alfred smiled as Ivan kissed him on the cheek and he headed downstairs to find Matthew preparing a tray to take to Katyusha who was still stuck in the bedroom. 

“Oh hello Ivan.” Matthew said, his wavy hair looking frazzled. “Just getting Katy her breakfast.”

“Is everything okay?” Ivan asked as Matthew cast a look that told Ivan it was a stupid question. “Well how is Katyusha?”

“That is fine. But god, I wish Papa would stay home. I know his heart is in the right place but god!” Matthew sighed. “Between him and Natalya, I am going to scream.”

“At least I know when Natalya and Toris are going to leave. Your papa, I do not.” Ivan rubbed his temple. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll find some way to chase him back home.” Matthew sighed. “Maybe threaten to eat nothing but McDonalds while he’s here.”

“I don’t think that will do it.” Alfred sighed as he sat down on the couch. “I don’t think Papa forgot about his idea he found around Thanksgiving.” Ivan and Matthew looked at him curiously. “You know, him buying that failing bed and breakfast not too far from here.” Ivan gulped. He suddenly remembered when he had offered to help Francis with that preposterous notion. Now he had not promised money or anything like that but had promised to find him connections to help him out if he talked to Gilbert about getting the job that Matthew did. Alfred laid back and turned on the TV “Now I wonder if he made any offers behind Dad’s back or something like that and Katy’s health gave him the perfect excuse to come up here and do it.” 

“It probably would….” Matthew sighed. Ivan looked at the brothers curiously. “You see Papa does have grand ambitions from time to time and either bankrupts himself or he has Dad bail him out. If of course, he hasn’t talked him out of it. And with their age, especially with being a grandfather in spring, he’s probably thrown caution to the wind more so.” Ivan looked over at Alfred. “Now mind you not like Al does. He probably wasn’t the best of influence there I guess…” Matthew smirked as Alfred stuck the middle finger up at his brother. Sticking his tongue out, he continued. “But he often loses interest if things aren’t going his way. He’ll ‘go on strike’ as Dad calls it if his demands aren’t being met and often the project is discarded or just forgotten about. That’s how his salon plans went kaputz.”

“Huh?” Ivan asked.

“Being French doesn’t automatically mean you can get a cosmetology license. And after putting up with one of the classes in the state program he quit.” Alfred explained. “So yeah, there’s that. And his art ambitions. I mean he wasn’t that bad, but Dad would not let him quit his job to do it full time, so he quit. God knows he can’t do that if he buys a business.” 

“No.” Ivan said. “He cannot.” 

“Well Katy is hungry, and I promised her breakfast.” Matthew said as he excused himself from the room. 

“Sure.” Ivan said as his phone dinged. 

“What’s up?” Alfred asked. 

“Natalya text. ‘Left Germany, should be in Chicago at 3 local time, from there due at the airport back home at 6 local time there.’ She says according to this text.

“Huh?” Alfred asked.

“We have to be at the airport by 6. Everything seems to be on schedule according to this.” Ivan said as he looked up the flights. 

“Papa’s shift usually ends about 8 or so. Restaurant he works at closes at 9 and the night crews finish up.” Alfred said as he did some calculations in his head. “So, if Nattie’s flight is in on time, we get back here about 8 or so, depending on traffic, we’ll beat Papa here. 

“I told Matvey the best he is getting if he wants to stay in the house is the couch.” Ivan growled.

“I don’t blame you dude.” Alfred laid back. “I may love the man; he did help raise me, but I got my- “Ivan raised an eyebrow “-our own place to get away from that stuff. I am an adult. It’d be different if we ASKED for the help. And I know when Nattie is heading back to campus.”

“Da.” Ivan nodded. They sat in silence for awhile when he spoke up. “Would you like something to eat?”

“Dumb question Vanya.” Alfred laughed. 

They had spent the rest of the day, just talking with Katyusha, making sure she wasn’t feeling too cooped up and alone, even moving over so Alfred could play a game with her. He was starting to get into the match when he noticed both Ivan and Matthew starting at him. He rolled his eyes and tuned back the aggression and made sure to let her win. Matthew looked at his watch and jumped up. “Got to get ready.”

“I’ll be watching Matvey.” Katyusha said. Once he had dismissed himself, she looked at Ivan and Alfred. “When does Natalya’s flight come in again?”

“Around 6.” Ivan said. “I am planning on heading out with Fredka around 4 or so. Traffic.” He added when he saw Katyusha’s look. “Are you going to be okay here by yourself?”

“Certainly. How much trouble can I get in on my own?” Katyusha said. “Besides, I would like to get through Mount Moon before Matvey is on television again.” She picked up the game’s case and opened it up, swapping it out with the game of her choice. Alfred picked up the case.

“Let’s Go Eevee?” Alfred asked. “God next time Kiku is over for a game night he will love this.”

“You two usually play those Resident Evil games.” Ivan noted.

“He has an affinity for cute things as well.” Alfred said. “Although I feel it’s kind of watered down from the older versions where you actually had to do damage to catch the Pokémon. I mean this is a remake of Gen 1 but come on…. There’s a reason I wanted to get an old Nintendo 64. I miss playing Pokémon Colosseum. Kiku has one and he beats me so much at the sushi game.” Ivan sighed and looked at the game. 

“I beat the first gym already!” Katyusha said. “I am heading to Mount Moon. I have a Jigglypuff too. Aren’t they cute?”

“You and Kiku would get along….” Alfred laughed. “Pukhnastyy?” he asked.

“It means fluffy.” Katyusha said as she looked at the screen intently. “I want a clefairy too.” She said as the game began. “Let me bring out Spivak” She said as she brought out the Jigglypuff. 

“Spivak?” Alfred asked. 

“It means singer in Ukrainian.” Ivan translated.

“I wanted to name it kolyskova pisnya” Katyusha noted “But it would not fit. Kolyskova pisnya means lullaby in Ukrainian.” She said at his look.

“Jigglypuff sing their opponents to sleep.” Alfred said as Ivan looked at them clueless.

“I do not understand this game.” Ivan sighed. “I will let you two be, but it will be time for us to head to the airport soon Fredka….”

“Oh!” Alfred said as he waved back to Katyusha. “I’ll tell Kiku you’re playing this. He may be a businessman who uses Art of War for his company strategy, but he loves Pokémon. I think he’s disappointed he couldn’t get on with Nintendo or GameFreak.”

“Oh, before you have to leave, do you know when your papa gets off work?” Katyusha asked.

“Mattie told you about that.” Alfred said. She nodded. “Well, like I was telling Vanya, it’s usually 8 or 9. It also takes about an hour or two to get up here.”

“Good. I can pretend to be asleep. And Natalya would be here too.” Katyusha sighed. “Not another Zubat!”

“They’re all over the place in the caves.” Alfred said. “Well, you know where to reach us or Matthew.”

“I cannot wait until you guys and Natalya and Toris are back. I think you may be back about the same time that Matvey would be home.” Katyusha said.

Ivan left Katyusha a small lunch, promising to bring something home when they head back from the airport and drove the same drive they had done when they had saw Toris and Natalya off a few weeks ago. This time, because it was a weekday, the traffic was heading slowly, causing Ivan to growl under his breath. One thing he could not stand was a traffic jam when he was wanting to get somewhere. “Vy, idioty, mozhete dvigat'sya medlenneye? Nekotorym iz nas yest' gde pobyvat' i lyudi vstrechayutsya.”

“Calm down Vanya.” Alfred said as he grabbed the bar above the window as they approached the exit to the airport. “I know you’re frazzled but this won’t help anyone out!”

“You’re right.” Ivan sighed as he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as they headed towards the parking garage. “I hope their flight is still on time. It’s rather expensive to park at airports for some reason.” Ivan complained as he grabbed the ticket. 

“Yeah, the prices suck.” Alfred said as he got out of the car and headed towards the baggage claim looking at his phone.

“Give me that.” Ivan sighed. “So, her flight’s baggage is at carousel 3.” Ivan said as he kept pace with Alfred, who he could tell was trying to do the best he could despite the injury. “If this is bothering you to do so, I am sure we can get a cart or scooter when we get to the airport.”

“Nah. I’ll park it on a bench most of the time. Especially one near the phone chargers. I got a ton of streaming to catch up on.” Alfred smiled. “I’ve been around my fair share of airports, remember?”

“Never have a Tolstoy novel in your carry-on bag.” Ivan growled. “I swear the KGB weren’t this stupid with what is and is not a bomb.”

“Come on, it’s not that bad going through the security checkpoint?” Alfred laughed. 

“It is when somehow you are picked for additional screening almost every time.” Ivan complained. “Some of those agents got too handsy for my taste.”

“Well, that means I am the lucky son of a bitch married to a man government employee will abuse their power to get a feel of.” Alfred winked.

“I apricate the compliment but I still think some of them assume it is still the Cold War.” Ivan complained as he sat beside Alfred who laid back on Ivan’s lap. 

“Maybe the really old ones. The wall came down nearly 30 years ago.” Alfred said as he opened a game on his phone.

“Don’t remind me that I am getting old. You know I was born around that time.” Ivan sighed.

“Well, I am getting old too there Vanya. So, you ain’t alone. Fu-dge….” Alfred said as he died in the game and Ivan looked at him with an annoyed expression on his face at his near swear in public. “I mean when we married, we agreed to grow old together.”

“That is true.” He kissed Alfred on the forehead. “I’ll be back.” He said getting up, heading to a vending machine, and heading back to the bench Alfred made his base of operations until Natalya and Toris came in. “For you.” He said giving Alfred a Coke. 

“Thanks dude.” Alfred said as he looked over at the board announcing the arrivals. “Good. Her flight is still on time.” 

“Which is still another hour.” Ivan sighed. 

“Don’t rush man. Just catch up on the games or whatever.” Alfred sighed. 

Ivan nodded and pulled out his phone and a set of earbuds and tried to stay occupied with the device but just could not. He wished he could just meet Natalya and Toris at the gate, but knew that without going through the checkpoint, that was not possible. Slowly, with Alfred’s weight on his lap he found himself falling asleep. Then after what seemed like a short period of time, he felt a tapping on his forehead. “Chto?” He said as he looked at Natalya and Toris. 

“Hello big brother.” Natalya waved. Toris was quickly catching up with his bag and hers behind him. “I was wondering why you weren’t standing over there waiting for us like you normally would have.” 

“Oh….” Ivan said jumping up, causing Alfred to stir awake himself.

“Whuzzuonaongin?” He asked.

“I am going to assume that you did not know what was going on.” Natalya said, trying to keep her insulting tone down. I am going to try to keep the peace, if for no one else but Katyusha…. She thought as Alfred sat up, and she moved back as to not be hit by his cast leg.” 

“That must be painful Mr. Alfred….” Toris said as he handed the crutches to him.

“Not as much as when I did it.” Alfred said standing up and situating the crutches under his arms. “These chafe at times, thus the duct taped old wash cloths.”

“Wow.” Toris noted.

“Let us get going. I know that Matthew is at work now, we saw him on one of the televisions nearby.” Natalya said.

“They show local stations? Wow.” Alfred said. “Most airports play the cable news networks.”

“It was amazing seeing that.” Toris said. “I remember meeting him and never could imagine he would be so poised and well professional.”

“Yeah, that’s Mattie…” Alfred said with a smile. God who knew that he’d get so liked as just a regional junior anchor. It’s not like I am a nobody either….am I? Alfred thought as they headed back to the car, Natalya keeping pace with Ivan, Toris making sure that Alfred was keeping up. 

“We are going to stop and pick up something for Katyusha for dinner as Matthew will be coming home about the same time we are. At this he heard a buzzing noise from his phone. “And she wants pizza?” Ivan asked. “’I have ordered enough for everyone, including Fredka’s appetite. Just pick it up at 9. I know you would likely be coming into town sooner, but I think you can wait around.’” Ivan looked at his watch. “It is only 6:30 so we should be there in time.”

“If we’re not, I’ll send Mattie a message as he’d be getting home about 8:30 from what Katy told me.” 

“Sounds like that girl is going to eat a lot like her father and uncle.” Natalya said. “I know normally Katyusha is not into things like pizza and cheap macaroni and cheese.”

“Hey at least she isn’t having Mattie put maple syrup on everything. That’s how you’d know the girl takes after him completely.” Alfred laughed.

“That sounds gross.” Natalya said.

“Don’t need to tell me. Ask Mattie to make Poutine if you want gross.” Alfred make a noise like he was going to throw up.

“Do I want to know?” Natalya said as Toris fell asleep on her lap. “It was a long flight.” Natalya commented as Alfred looked at the sight curiously. He nodded.

“It’s French fries, gravy and cheese curds. He first had it during a family trip to Niagara Falls. And he loved it.”

“Gross.” Natalya said. 

“I will warn you,” Ivan said as they headed back to the house. “Francis insisted on helping when he spoke with Matvey and Katyusha the other night.”

“Seriously?” Natalya rolled her eyes looking at Alfred.

“Wasn’t my idea! Katy, Mattie and even my dad didn’t want him to.” Alfred sighed as they eventually made it back to town, to the pizza stop that Katyusha had placed the order for and Ivan came out with a large stack of boxes, 4 pepperoni pizzas, one with mushrooms, peppers, pineapple and barbecue sauce, a few large orders of breadsticks, an order of buffalo wings and 2 brownies. He placed the large order on Alfred’s lap.

“Katyusha must be hungry” Toris awoke with a surprised look at the large number of boxes.

“She usually orders more than needed when planning for others….” Ivan said. Turning into the driveway, he let out a “blyat….”

“What are you blyating?” Alfred asked, “Awwwww fuck.” 

“Francis?” Natalya said noticing the two cars. “One must be Matthew’s but the other one,”

“The one with the dents in the backside from Mr. I-cannot-turn-my-head-nor-use-the-backup-camera-Dad-paid-extra-for,” Alfred said. “Yep. Papa’s.” Ivan took the boxes off Alfred’s lap and Toris handed him his crutches. “Nattie, I give you permission to be horrible to that frog. I will not take any offense.”

“I won’t either.” Ivan said as he opened the door. 

“I tried to get him to wait somewhere else like a hotel for you guys before you came back- “Matthew, still in his suit said as Francis took the boxes.

“I could not stand that.” Francis said. “Alfred you’re hurt too. Well, you and Katyusha need not worry. Papa is here.”

“And the spare guest room is Toris and mine’s” Natalya said as she took the boxes to the kitchen and placed them on the table. “Katyusha requested this, so you’ll eat it, or you’ll starve. No one invited you.”

“I like your sister more now Vanya.” Alfred laughed.

“Me too Ivan.” Matthew agreed.

“Bozhe, pomogi mne” Ivan sighed placing his face in his hands.

Translation Guide:

(Obtained via google translate)

Podsolnukh-Russian-Sunflower  
Pukhnastyy-Ukrainian-fluffy

Spivak-Ukrainian-singer

kolyskova pisnya-Ukrainian-lullaby

Vy, idioty, mozhete dvigat'sya medlenneye? Nekotorym iz nas yest' gde pobyvat' i lyudi vstrechayutsya. -Russian- Can you idiots move any slower? Some of us have places to be and people meet.

Bozhe, pomogi mne-Russian-God help me.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. As you can see sometimes people can be too helpful when it comes to their loved ones and impose a lot. Thank you all so much for your favs, reviews and even just reading it. I love seeing that you like it so and helps motivate me. I am currently turning over an idea of a Prohibition era Hetalia fic but all I have is the idea. If anyone wants to help, please let me know if I can bounce the ideas off you. Anyway, remember to read, well you just did, and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


	24. Chapter 24

I do not own Hetalia okay? Just seeing how you guys like this really makes me smile. Anyway, I don’t have much else to say, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

“I’ll take Katy her pizza.” Matthew said as he opened some of the boxes and placed a few pieces of the unique mushroom, pepper, pineapple and barbecue sauce pizza and a few breadsticks and headed into the bedroom with a lemonade for her. As he reached to place the tray down at her lap, he heard a call from the other room. 

“You mind if I try your pizza Katy?” Alfred called as Matthew heard him in the bedroom, rolling his eyes at his brother’s abnormal appetite. Katyusha sighed as well.

“Do you?” Matthew shrugged.

“I guess.” She rolled her eyes. “But just one piece!”

“Okay,” Matthew said as he headed out of the bedroom and to the kitchen to get his pizza.

“Just why would you want one of Katyusha’s pieces?” Natalya asked. “Was it not mushroom, pepper, pineapple and barbecue sauce?”

“Yes.” Alfred said proudly as he took the remote from Francis who huffed in indignation. “It sounded interesting. Like a kabob I made last summer that was the leftovers. Got more veggies than meat.” 

“Well you did come over to this house rather uninvited.” Natalya said simply. “But honestly that sounds disgusting. Katyusha’s excuse is she is pregnant but you?”

“Poutine.” Alfred said as Matthew looked at him annoyed.

“You both have poor taste.” She then looked at Francis. “You manage a fancy restaurant, how did you let this happen?”

“Their dad does do some of the cooking when I am running late. And he cannot cook. He could set a bowl of cereal on fire.” Francis said. “So needless to say I do have to wonder if there isn’t nature in there too. I mean they are twins.”  
“Oh eat your pizza Papa.” Matthew said. “Hockey’s on.” Matthew said as he took the remote from Alfred. 

“I think Toris and I will eat this in the kitchen if you do not mind.” Natalya said as Toris looked from the television to her.

“Trust me, you do not want to be around Mattie on hockey night if you aren’t up for a complete 360 in his personality.” Alfred said, sensing that Natalya did not want to be alone and if Toris stayed then she might have to deal with Francis. In a kitchen. That had knives. Last thing anyone wanted was him being careless or getting on Natalya’s already frazzled jet lagged nerves. 

“I do not have much of an appetite right now.” Natalya said as she bit on a breadstick. “It has been a long flight over many time zones.” She sighed and placed the rest on the plate and looked down. “I think I may speak with Katyusha a little before heading to sleep for the night. Frankly, it was a way to get out of the forced interaction with some of Alfred’s family she would rather not have had. She was indeed worn out from the journey but did not want to make her sister seem like she was easily forgotten. Right now, it seemed that she was the only one who she could stand. Heading to the bedroom, she knocked on the doorway, to give Katyusha the right of refusal.

“Come in.” Katyusha said as Natalya walked in. “So how was your flight, dytyncha?” She asked biting down on the unusual piece of pizza. 

“You must have some weird cravings.” Natalya said. She was not found of pizza in normal flavors but had eaten it a lot at college for mere convince. It was very easy to read the book you need to study from as it was something that took only one hand. 

“From what I am reading on this, it is quite normal to have cravings that seem rather peculiar.” Katyusha smiled. “Honestly from what I am reading online, this is actually not that weird a craving. One woman reported she craved green olives, those Reese’s cup candies and twinkies at the same time.”

“I do hope they did not put the olives in the twinkies. As if those things were safe food to begin with.” Natalya shuddered. “You don’t know how much work I have to put in at the campus gym, so I don’t gain too much weight. Most food you get in the dining hall or near campus is not that healthy.” Katyusha nodded knowingly, causing Natalya to raise an eyebrow. “I do not know how Fredka does it. He eats horribly but isn’t the size of a house!” Katyusha laughed. “Just what is so funny?” She looked at the Nintendo Switch and Let’s Go! Eevee case on the nightstand beside her. “That’s quite an attitude for a woman who is spending her days playing children’s games.”

“I am on bedrest Natalya.” Katyusha sighed. “If I did not have these ‘children’s games’ as you call them, I would get cabin fever. I am not a fan of the games with higher ratings if you want to use that as a gauge of maturity, then I do not know. I frankly do not find games where I run from the police fun. Besides, one of Fredka’s close friends loves these games.”

“That Japanese businessman?” Natalya said. 

“Yes. He hasn’t been over since Matvey and I have started staying here.” Katyusha said. “Although I have decided when I am off this bedrest, I am going to take Matvey house hunting. I have been looking online at some listings. Been trying to find something with plenty of yard. I want to have a proper garden for once.” Katyusha said determinedly. “I haven’t had one since before chudovyy dyadʹko died.” 

“Indeed.” Natalya nodded as she looked at her older sister. It was at that, their age really showed. Natalya was only 4 years old when they had moved in with their great uncle. There was not a lot that she had remembered the same way that Katyusha did. There were times she related memories better with Ivan than Katyusha because of that 10-year age difference. It seemed to narrow a little bit as they had gotten older, but at the same time because of the maternal role she was forced to take up at the age of 18, it strained the sister’s relationship as terms of sisters and blurred into a mother/daughter type relationship at times. “Whatever became of velikiy dyadya’s house?” 

“Some drama we could not fight.” Katyusha said. “I did not tell you and Vanya about it because you both were young. Well, Vanya not so much but he was a very awkward teenager at that time. You see Great Uncle had a family before he took us in. His wife had a falling out with him and moved out. Took his children, that’s why we never met them. One of his children had read his obituary and got a lawyer and they did some dirty things to get the house in their name. Claimed that as his biological children they had precedence over us. And because there was no will, it made it hard to fight.” Natalya looked critically at her older sister. “And there were some off the record threats and comments in sessions with the lawyer I was afraid of.”

“Which was?” Natalya asked.

“Well, I guess you are old enough now.” Katyusha said. “My deepest fears you know were that you and Vanya would be thrown into foster care or worse sent back to Russia. It’s not like it is now back then. But they knew I was the one taking care of you and was only 18.” She noticed her sister’s look “I didn’t back down. I was able to negotiate them paying our rent and into a college fund for you and Vanya in exchange for the house and leaving us alone forever. I also had nearly struck both that bastard and the lawyer at the same time. As if they were in chudovyy dyadʹko’s life at all! He was buried and in the ground for a month before they had sent me that summons.”

“Do you think Fredka knows of Vanya’s ‘emo’ phase?” Natalya said. 

“I honestly do not know. I don’t think he would think any less of him for it.” Katyusha said. “But Vanya would be very embarrassed. I think I will try to look for some pictures from back then. I do still have yours and Vanya’s yearbooks from when you were in school.”

“Oh god.” Natalya said, shuddering at the memories her sister had access to. Girl scouts, ballet, choir, all of it were things she was a part of when she was young and thought all of it was beneath her and humiliating. “Please tell me you do not have access to that third-grade talent show of mine….” She said, face turning red at the memory of early 2000s pop songs she had performed in front of all the school at the time. 

“I may, I may not.” Katyusha teased. She saw how distressed her sister was becoming. “Does the indomitable Natalya have a secret she wishes no one would ever tell anyone? I mean it is a harmless secret and no one will hold what you have done in your youth against you.”

“I swear Katyusha if you were not pregnant and my sister, I would have punched you by now.” Natalya said.

“Is everything okay in here?” Toris said as he knocked on the doorframe. “I was figuring I would let you know that I took your bags to the guest bedroom and made the bed up for when you are ready. I was going to take a shower myself and make fists with my toes to see if that helps me settle down from that flight before I go to sleep.” 

“Fists with your toes?” Natalya said. “Now where have I heard that….”

“Mr. Alfred said it helps.” Toris said. “Right now, the game is Toronto versus Philadelphia and Matthew and Alfred are arguing over who is the better team. Philadelphia’s mascot scares me. I had left around half time when a guy in a bear suit and a man in an orange hairy monster costume were on the ice taunting each other.” He said looking slightly disturbed at the thought.

“Now I know where I heard that.” Natalya said as the realization came over her. “Fredka got that from a 1988 movie, Die Hard.”

“That is so like him.” Katyusha said. “And you know you called him Fredka. Maybe you don’t have as deep a disdain for him after all.”

“What?” Natalya said recovering her composure. “I am just rather tired, thus the relaxed name for him.”

“Whatever.” Katyusha and Toris replied simultaneously as Natalya groaned. 

“You two can talk, I am going to take a shower.” Toris said.

“His mother gave me some of her recipes from Christmas. I think I will make some of them for Epiphany tomorrow. I know Vanya is taking over the arrangements since you and Alfred are both indisposed, and I cannot imagine that it would be easy to cook on crutches.” Natalya replied. 

Ivan sat in the chair beside the couch that Matthew and Alfred were arguing about which mascot and team was better. “Polar bears are ferocious and one of the fiercest of bears!” Matthew yelled as Alfred rolled his eyes. “It’s perfect for hockey. It doesn’t look like Snuffleupagus, Big bird and Oscar the Grouch had a drunken three-way and somehow they produced a methed out monster.”

“He’s scary and intimidating. Your mascot, whose team name sucks to begin with, I mean fucking maple leaves, looks like they belong at a Christmas kiddie park! Flyers, Gritty, come on.” Alfred yelled. Ivan began to interject about the Russian Olympic team’s hockey record and how most NHL teams recruited Russian players when he remembered that as passionate as Alfred was about his sports team mascots, it was NOTHING compared to Matthew’s passion for hockey. Getting involved in that fight was not worth the time and the headache. 

“Which reminds me, what is it with Philadelphia and their funky mascots. Look at the Phanatic.” Matthew said.

“Oh, hell no! You dare not beat on the Phanatic! That’s a verbal hate crime!” Alfred yelled back.

“Can’t you stop them?” Ivan pleaded, noticing how much Francis was growling.

“Merde….” Francis said rubbing his temple. “Boys! Seriously! Both mascots are charming in their own ways. You are grown men and you are acting like you are 12 years old again!” He looked to Ivan. “I’ll sleep on your sofa if you let me have a glass of wine or something stronger. How do you put up with this?”

Ivan lifted his glass. “This is not water. Besides, most of the time the two are not together on their sports nights.”

“Reminds me of Arthur and his brother Allistor. This is almost as bad as a Manchester United versus Edinburgh Football game I made the mistake of watching with those two.” Francis sighed. “Allistor ended up making Arthur cry uncle as the saying is but I did not know I could literally be used as a human weapon. So yes, vulgar but obnoxious yelling is nothing in comparison to what those two can do. And in addition to smashing this work of art called my face, an innocent bystander, after a perceived incorrect yellow card was declared against Manchester, Arthur stabbed Allistor’s bagpipes and when the when the reverse happened to Edinburgh, Allistor smashed Arthur’s bass guitar and the night ended with a claymore versus a long sword and the police being called. Trust me, this hasn’t gotten to that level yet and Alfred and Matthieu never have gotten that bad.”

“So that’s why dad always left the few times uncle Allistor came around?” Alfred said, mention of their uncle stopping the petty argument.

“Yes. Those two never got along. It’s a shame because Allistor really loved you boys.” Francis said. “No kid should suffer because of disagreements their parents have with their siblings. I am not saying he was perfect, and your dad was a complete bastard because those two were always horrible to each other as long as I’ve known them. But honestly, if Matthew wanted to take his little girl to a hockey game or even watch it with her, then as much as you may not like it, the Toronto Maple Leaves mascot would be more friendly. Gritty would make her cry.” Alfred sat and pouted. “Unless it turns out that kid is a total weirdo.”

“Papa!” Matthew said.

“I know someone who laughed at the end of Genesis’s Land of Confusion video with the nurse nuke thing as a kid.” Matthew said. “To be fair she’s not much older than we are, so she didn’t understand it I guess….” 

With that discussion of fraternal violence causing Alfred and Matthew to stop arguing over something petty like the better mascot and kept the outburst pertaining to the game when it turned out Toronto won. Alfred just rolled his eyes and stuck his middle finger up at Matthew. “I think I am going to go to bed now.” Alfred sighed as Ivan helped him up the stairs. “I think I am getting this now….” 

“I have it in case you do not dorogoy.” Ivan said. 

“I think I will get a shower,” Alfred said. “Can you bring me my pjs?” He asked as Ivan headed to the bedroom when Alfred opened the door to find Natalya standing there, hair wrapped up in a towel, wearing a flannel pair of pajama bottoms and a t shirt emblazoned with her college’s name on it. “Hello.” Alfred smiled, remembering what Francis had said about the reason he did not know his uncle Allistor more was that simply put, they had not gotten along. Now he and Natalya did not have the best of relationships, and many times the only reason he had not struck her was because she was Ivan’s sister, but remembering the experiences he missed with his uncle because of his dad’s falling out and that with them both soon to be an aunt and uncle themselves, Alfred did not want the child’s family memories tainted by the adults behaving childish. He stared at her as she stared back. “I see you are getting ready for bed?” He asked trying to be civil. 

“Yes.” Natalya said simply, wanting to keep things civil for Katyusha’s sake. “I am afraid that Toris and I may have used up all the hot water.”

“That’s alright.” Alfred smiled. Fuck I’ll have to wait. “I think I’ll just wait a little bit.”

“I am sorry if I inconvenienced you.” Natalya said heading to the guest room she and Toris were staying in. 

“It’s bound to happen.” Alfred sighed. “I do have to piss at least.”

“Good luck with that.” She said as she left the bathroom and Alfred walked in after. Ivan has the pajamas and Alfred set them on the hamper beside the shower. He looked at him curiously. “Out of hot water. Got to wait a little bit.” 

“I noticed that you and Natalya acted better towards each other.” Ivan smiled. 

“Well, she’s not horrible.” Alfred said. “There’s times she gets under my skin to no end and she has a smart mouth I want smack sometimes….” He noticed Ivan’s frown. “But I see that it is from the same reasons you have to look after your sister. The same reason you were a jerk to Mattie when you first confirmed that he was dating Katy and all that after.”

“Oh really?” Ivan laughed. “And what is that may I ask?”

“You both love your family deeply.” Alfred sighed as he took his medication for the evening. “Anyone who would hurt them earn your disdain and it isn’t until you see otherwise that you let it go. Just maybe she’s got higher standards than you do?” Ivan rolled his eyes. “And growing up you guys didn’t have it as smooth as Mattie and I did. I mean if bickering like newlyweds on the verge of divorce is the worst, I had to put up with along with their inability to securely fasten doors….”

“Or your inability to knock….” Ivan laughed as Alfred stuck his tongue out at him.

“Point being, I know you and your sisters are very close.” Alfred sighed. “And I want that to continue and you not to lose them because you married some dick. But I also want that with whatever kids are involved in this mess.” Ivan smiled at this.

“So, you are serious about adopting?” Ivan said.

“Once Mattie and Katy have a place of their own, I am seriously looking around. I want us to have the room before I start it. Ease them into this madness.” Alfred said. “And if their adoptive grandpas want to bicker in front of them, I’ll blame it on dementia.” 

“I love you so much Fredka.” Ivan said as he kissed Alfred, pushing him back on the bed.

“OOOOOF!” Alfred said with a slight hiss as Ivan rolled beside him. “Watch the cast. 

“Sorry.” Ivan smiled.

Translation Guide:

(Obtained via google translate)

Dytyncha-Ukrainian-baby sister  
chudovyy dyadʹko-Ukrainian-great uncle.  
velikiy dyadya-Russian-great uncle  
Merde-French-Shit  
Dorogoy-Russian-darling

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don’t know how fast I can update the way life is right now but I will try to. Anyway remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

Otherrealmwriter

Aka

Realm.


End file.
